RUSSIA’S SYSTEMATIC ATTACKS ON RELIGION AND CHRISTIANity

While Russia claims to share America’s Christian values, its actions tell a very different story. In practice, Russia destroys churches and persecutes Protestants and Catholics.

In the Ukraine war, Russia has destroyed well over 600 churches and religious buildings. At least 60 to 70 clergy members and religious leaders have been murdered. Reports indicate that Russia is deliberately targeting churches and religious leaders.

The Russian Orthodox Church is not a purely religious institution. It is in fact state-controlled and a tool of Putin’s government. Russian churches serve as espionage hubs for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Services (SVR) around the world, including inside the United States. Religion is used as cover for intelligence operations aimed directly at America and its allies.

At the same time, the Russian Church openly rejects Christian pluralism. It refuses communion with Catholics and Protestants, labeling other Christian faiths as false. American missionaries are denied visas to Russia, while believers inside Russia are persecuted and harassed by Russian security services.

This hostility is rooted in ideology. Russia sees itself as a mythical “Third Rome” and claims authority as the global seat of Christianity. It refuses to recognize the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Churches in Constantinople and views Protestants and Catholics as lost, illegitimate, and destined for damnation.

Russia claims its Orthodox Church is peaceful, yet church leaders such as Patriarch Kirill openly proclaim a so-called “holy war” against Ukraine and regularly preach against the evils of America. This religious rhetoric is used to justify violence and to demonize American values.

In Ukraine, Russia has put these beliefs into action. Russian forces specifically target evangelical Protestant and Catholic churches, destroying them while clergy and parishioners are tortured and persecuted.

This is not tolerance for shared Christian values. It is a deliberate assault on the American religious community and religious freedom, and an ideological war waged through faith itself.