[Joint House and Senate Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


               CHURCH, STATE, AND RUSSIA'S WAR ON UKRAINE

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                         COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND 
                           COOPERATION IN EUROPE

                        U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION

                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                             APRIL 27, 2023

                               __________

 Printed for the use of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in 
                                 Europe

                              [CSCE118-3]
                              
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]                              


                       Available via www.csce.gov
                       
                               __________

                                
                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
52-494                      WASHINGTON : 2023                    
          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------     
                      
            COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

                        U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION

             U.S. HOUSE                        U.S SENATE

JOE WILSON, South Carolina Chairman	BEN CARDIN, Maryland Co-Chairman
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee Ranking	        ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi 
    Member					Ranking Member	
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama		RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
EMANUEL CLEAVER II, Missouri		JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
RUBEN GALLEGO, Arizona			JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire
RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina		THOM TILLIS, North Carolina
MIKE LAWLER, New York			SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
GWEN MOORE, Wisconsin
VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
MARC VEASEY, Texas                              

                            EXECUTIVE BRANCH
                 Department of State - to be appointed
                Department of Defense - to be appointed
                Department of Commerce - to be appointed
                        
                        
                        C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

                             COMMISSIONERS

Hon. Joe Wilson, Chairman, from South Carolina...................     1

Hon. Steve Cohen, Ranking Member, from Tennessee.................     3

Hon. Emanuel Cleaver, from Missouri..............................    15

Hon. Mike Lawler, from New York..................................    17

Hon. Marc Veasey, from Texas.....................................    18

Hon. Victoria Spartz, from Indiana...............................    20

Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee, from Texas..............................    22


                            COMMITTEE STAFF

Demitra Pappas, Senior Advisor for the Department of State, 
  Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe..............     6


                               WITNESSES

His Beatitude Epiphaniy, Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine....     5

The Most Reverend Yevstratiy [Zoria], Metropolitan of Bila 
  Tserkva........................................................    12

Reverend Dr. Igor Bandura, Vice President of International 
  Affairs for the Baptist Union of Ukraine.......................     7


 
               CHURCH, STATE, AND RUSSIA'S WAR ON UKRAINE

                              ----------                              

 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN 
                                    EUROPE,
                          U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION,
                                  HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
                                          Thursday, April 27, 2023.

    The hearing was held from 1:06 p.m. to 2:50 p.m., room 2020 
Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC, Representative 
Joe Wilson [R-SC], Chairman, Commission for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe, presiding.
    Committee Members Present: Representative Joe Wilson [R-
SC], Chairman; Representative Steve Cohen [D-TN], Ranking 
Member; Representative Emanuel Cleaver [D-MO]; Representative 
Mike Lawler [R-NY]; Representative Marc Veasey [D-TX]; 
Representative Victoria Spartz [R-IN]; Representative Sheila 
Jackson Lee [D-TX].
    Committee Staff Present: Demitra Pappas, Senior Advisor for 
the Department of State, Commission for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe.
    Witnesses: His Beatitude Epiphaniy, Metropolitan of Kyiv 
and all Ukraine; The Most Reverend Yevstratiy [Zoria], 
Metropolitan of Bila Tserkva; Reverend Dr. Igor Bandura, Vice 
President of International Affairs for the Baptist Union of 
Ukraine.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOE WILSON, CHAIRMAN, U.S. HOUSE FROM 
                         SOUTH CAROLINA

    Representative Wilson: Good afternoon, all who have joined 
us today.
    Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge the ranking 
member, Steve Cohen of Tennessee, is present.
    Additionally, we are really very fortunate to have Chaplain 
Margaret Kibben with us. She is the Chaplain of the House of 
Representatives. Additionally, she is an Admiral in the U.S. 
Navy. Then last month she actually visited Kyiv, Ukraine, and 
visited with religious leaders of Ukraine. So she is certainly 
a superstar standing up for the people of Ukraine, and so much 
appreciated.
    We will have other members of the Commission come in and 
out. As always, there is so many competing meetings 
simultaneously.
    As we begin today, it has been an historic day for 
Congressman Cohen and myself to be on the House floor, and that 
is we had a wonderful presentation today by the president of 
the Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol. President Yoon gave an 
excellent speech to the people of the United States, and it was 
just an extraordinary opportunity. I would like to read part of 
what he said because it relates to what we are doing today.
    That is: "My friends, freedom and democracy are once again 
under threat. The war against Ukraine is a violation of 
international law. It is an attempt to unilaterally change the 
status quo with force. Korea strongly condemns the unprovoked 
and armed attack against Ukraine. When North Korea invaded us 
in 1950, democracies came running to help us. We fought 
together. We kept our freedom. The rest is history. Korea's 
experience shows us just how important it is for democracies to 
uphold solidarity. Korea will stand in solidarity with the free 
world. We will actively work and safeguard the freedom of the 
people of Ukraine and support their efforts in reconstruction."
    What a remarkable indication of solidarity, perfectly 
clear, which is particularly incredible in that in 1960 after 
the Korean War the per capita income of Korea was $67. Today, 
it is well over 30,000 dollars and it went from an economy of 
zero to being the 10th largest economy in the world. So free 
markets work, democracy works, and what a message for us to 
receive today. What an encouragement it can be for the people 
of Ukraine.
    Additionally, as we begin I would like to introduce for the 
record from The New York Times an article of December 31, 2022, 
and it is ``Clergymen or Spies? Churches Become Tools of War in 
Ukraine.'' Additionally, from Time Magazine of April 15, 2022, 
``How the Russian Orthodox Church is Helping Drive Putin's War 
in Ukraine.'' Without any objection, they shall be entered into 
the record.
    I would also like to have these records in place and how 
important they are, which shows that this is not a new topic 
but current events. Arrest of Moscow-linked priests have 
brought things to a much clearer focus, which we will hear 
about today.
    The Helsinki Commission has long championed the need to 
protect freedom of religion and belief. Although Ukraine is a 
state of diverse religions, today's hearing will focus on the 
largest religious group in Ukraine--that is, Christians. We 
cannot talk about Christians in Ukraine without discussing war 
criminal Putin's full-scale war. The war has made life 
dangerous for many Christians in occupied areas of Ukraine, who 
not only have to worry about their physical safety but the 
protection of other freedoms, including the right to believe 
and worship according to one's conscience.
    Occupation authorities have used various tactics to deny 
believers the right to practice their faith, including by de 
facto banning religious groups not approved by the Russian-led 
occupation governments and destroying religious materials. The 
main targets are Christians not affiliated with the Moscow-
controlled Ukrainian Orthodox Church, an arm of the Russian 
Orthodox Church, and any other nontraditional religions or 
beliefs--that is, religions that are not--cannot be controlled 
by the Kremlin.
    Putin is also creating an additional challenge for the 
Ukrainian Government. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 
technically under Moscow's control though the level of loyalty 
may vary; the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which officially 
split off from the former, are fighting for the future of 
Orthodoxy in Ukraine. The Kremlin has used Orthodox priests 
reporting to Moscow to engage in criminal activities against 
Ukraine on behalf of Putin, including full-blown wartime 
collaboration, even storing weapons. Ukrainian authorities 
have, sadly, found evidence of this. Patriarch Kirill, the 
leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, has bizarrely contrived 
Putin's war, resulting in mass murder of Ukrainian men, women, 
and children, as, quote, ``An Apocalyptic Battle Against 
Evil.''
    Human rights experts have witnessed targeting of pastors 
and churches by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, particularly 
of Evangelical Christians. Sacred sites have been destroyed and 
looted by the hundreds. This is not surprising. Putin imposes 
widespread restrictions on Christians sharing their faith in 
Russia.
    Finally, given that our witnesses are all clergy 
themselves, I hope we will be able to discuss what religious 
communities around the world are doing to support Ukrainians 
and the role of Christians in Ukraine during wartime. Our 
esteemed witnesses today are well-qualified to speak to the 
diversity of Ukrainian Christianity.
    First, we will hear from--a video message from Kyiv by His 
Beatitude Epiphaniy, Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine, the 
leader of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. We thank His 
Beatitude and his--in particular for his time and his 
recognition of the importance of the discussion of Ukraine.
    Next, speaking on behalf of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine 
and coming to us from Ukraine via video is The Most Reverend 
Metropolitan Yevstratiy of Bila Tserkva.
    Joining us in Washington is the Reverend Dr. Igor Bandura, 
the Vice President of the International Affairs for the Baptist 
Union of Ukraine.
    Unfortunately, we learned this morning The Most Reverend 
Borys Gudziak, the Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic 
Archeparchy of Philadelphia and President of the Ukrainian 
Catholic University in Lviv, will not be able to join us due to 
unforeseen family circumstances. I encourage you to read his 
excellent testimony, which we will be providing to you today.
    With this, I want to turn to our ranking member, Steve 
Cohen, for any remarks. After that, we will hear from the 
Metropolitan Epiphaniy.

   STATEMENT OF STEVE COHEN, RANKING MEMBER, U.S. HOUSE FROM 
                           TENNESSEE

    Representative Cohen: Thank you, Mr. --thank you, Mr. 
Chair. Is this working Okay? No. Does this need to work? Thank 
you, Mr. Chair.
    It is an important--this is an important issue to be 
discussed. I look forward to the witnesses and their testimony 
and learning more about the issues with religion --[comes on 
mic]--oh, smart. Thank you.
    I look forward to hearing from the witnesses and learning 
more about which religion and the church has played in Russia 
and in Ukraine. I was in Russia many years ago when I was--
learned about the musical group Pussy Riot and that they had 
demonstrated in a church not too far from the Kremlin. Their 
punishment was way more severe than it should have been, and 
they were sentenced, I believe, to Siberia, and they were 
punished for quite a while. The reason, as I was told, was 
because Putin wanted to have a relationship with Patriarch 
Kirill as part of a political patron relationship, and so they 
used that as a way to show his support for the church.
    Putin claims to be very religious. I have never known a 
person who was religious and truly religious in terms of the 
way religion is supposed to be, not necessarily being a member 
of an organization, a member of a church, a dues-paying member, 
and somebody who stands up on Sunday or Friday or whatever the 
appropriate day is, who is in favor of killing his fellow 
citizens, condoning the rape of children and women, and the 
activities that Putin is engaged in in Ukraine and other 
places. Those are far from religious. They are the antithesis 
of religion. He has a relationship with Patriarch Kirill, which 
is really one that is not a holy relationship. I would like to 
learn more about what that relationship has been over the years 
and how in Ukraine the church that is more affiliated with 
Moscow, if they have actually committed offenses against the 
State in working for Russia and undermining the Ukrainian 
efforts. They deserve justice, but they also should not be 
working against the Ukrainian State in support of Moscow.
    I look forward to the testimony and hope that we will be 
able--and I also want to say this. I just came from a program 
honoring the 75th birthday of Israel. I read of the religions 
in our briefing papers in Ukraine, and predominantly they are 
the Orthodox religions. There are some Catholics, a few 
Baptists, and some others. Jews are not mentioned. Yet, before 
Germany and its Nazi invasion and Nazi efforts, there were lots 
of Jews in Ukraine. In fact, the program I went to was honoring 
Golda Meir, who immigrated from Ukraine to Milwaukee and then 
to Israel. There were a lot of Jews in Russia, too, but what I 
have learned lately is that what Jews have been told in Russia 
is: Get out, this is not a safe place for Jewish people.
    There is all kind of religious persecution going on by 
Putin in Russia and there has historically been by Nazis in 
Germany and what they tried--what they did to the Jews in the 
Holocaust. I personally see Putin as the successor to Hitler as 
far as engaging in genocide against the Ukrainian people and 
his activities there, which are reprehensible. I yield back the 
balance of my time.
    Representative Wilson: Thank you very much, Ranking Member 
Steve Cohen of Tennessee.
    With this, we will have a video from Kyiv with His 
Beatitude Epiphaniy, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine, and 
the leader of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. We now look 
forward to the video.
    [Pause for technical difficulties.]
    Representative Cohen: Just in the interest of 
bipartisanship, Trump said she was not his type. [Laughter.]
    [Pause for technical difficulties]
    [A video presentation begins with His Beatitude Ephiphany]

TESTIMONY OF HIS BEATITUDE EPIPHANIY, METROPOLITAN OF KYIV AND 
                          ALL UKRAINE

    His Beatitude Epiphaniy: [Translated from the original 
Ukrainian] Honorable members of the U.S. Congress, 
distinguished guests, I deeply regret that for reasons beyond 
my control I am unable to join this important event dedicated 
to the protection of freedom of religion--one of the 
fundamental freedoms--in person.
    Ukrainians are proud that from the very beginning of the 
restoration of Ukraine's independence, our state has been and 
remains committed to freedom of religion. This has made it 
possible, after years of Soviet repression and State atheism, 
to revive religious life in its diversity and to create 
effective mechanisms of interreligious and interconfessional 
cooperation, such as the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and 
Religious Organizations.
    In its hybrid war against Ukraine, Russia has unleashed new 
types of threat to religious freedom, including the Kremlin's 
use of a pseudo-Christian ideology to justify aggression and 
the coopting of all large religious bodies in Russia, most 
significantly the Moscow Patriarchate, as tools of propaganda 
and influence. In Russia itself, there is no real freedom of 
religion--both at the level of laws that severely limit the 
activities of religious organizations and put them under 
government control, and even more so at the level of practice.
    The situation is even worse in the territories of Ukraine 
occupied by Russia, where all Ukrainian religious organizations 
that are not loyal to the occupation authorities are 
persecuted. Our priests are kidnapped and harassed, forced to 
join the Russian Orthodox Church and cooperate with the 
occupiers. The property of the religious communities is seized 
and used as desired by the occupiers. Ukrainian citizens are 
forcibly compelled to accept Russian passports and treated as 
citizens of Russia. Without a Russian passport, residents of 
the occupied territories become effectively illegal. The 
structures of the Russian Orthodox Church in the occupied 
territories are actually one of the instruments of influence 
and control.
    Metropolitan Yevstratiy will in his address illustrate a 
number of specific threats, but in closing my remarks I want to 
draw attention to one key threat: The Russian Orthodox Church 
and its governing structure, the Moscow Patriarchate headed by 
Kirill Gundyaev, do not just cooperate with the Kremlin--they 
themselves have become part of the Russian State apparatus. The 
Moscow Patriarchate is not like a traditional religious body. 
In reality, it is a Russian Government agency that performs the 
functions of managing and controlling religious life, not only 
in Russia but also everywhere the Russian Church has spread. 
Professing conservative values through this patriarchate, the 
Kremlin seeks to recruit a range of religious bodies as 
partners or allies, particularly in America. In essence, the 
Moscow Patriarchate is in the religious dimension what the 
network RT--Russia Today--is in the information space: an 
instrument of propaganda and hybrid aggression.
    Ukraine and the entire free world must respond to this 
challenge of religious institutions that have been transformed 
into instruments of aggression and war. I hope that appropriate 
proposals for the U.S. Congress will be the fruit of these 
hearings.
    I would like to take this opportunity to thank the 
Congress, Government, and the people of the United States of 
America for supporting Ukraine and our people in the struggle 
for freedom against tyranny. May God guide you in your 
deliberations, and may God bless us all.
    [Video presentation ends.]
    Representative Wilson: Ladies and gentlemen, we have been 
joined by our other colleagues, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver 
from Missouri, and we also have Congressman Mike Lawler from 
New York. So--and it continues the bipartisan composition of 
this Commission, which, again, I like to point out, 
unintentionally war criminal Putin has unified Republicans and 
Democrats to stand up for the people of Ukraine. We are here 
and live.
    Then we have just been joined by Congresswoman Victoria 
Spartz, and Victoria herself is the first person born in 
Ukraine who has been elected to serve in the Congress of the 
United States. She is a superstar by herself, so we are really 
grateful for Victoria's service.
    The testimony has been so important that I am very grateful 
that Demitra Pappas of the State Department will be reading the 
English translation of the presentation we just had.
    Ms. Pappas: Honorable members of the U.S. Congress, 
distinguished guests, I deeply regret that for reasons beyond 
my control I am unable to join this important event dedicated 
to the protection of religious freedom, one of the fundamental 
freedoms, in person.
    Ukrainians are proud that from the very beginning of the 
restoration of Ukraine's independence, our state has been and 
remains committed to freedom of religion. This has made it 
possible, after years of Soviet repression and state atheism, 
to revive religious life in its diversity and to create 
effective mechanisms of interreligious and interconfessional 
cooperation, such as the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and 
Religious Organizations.
    In its hybrid war against Ukraine, Russia has unleashed new 
types of threat to religious freedom, including the Kremlin's 
use of a pseudo-Christian ideology to justify aggression, and 
the co-opting of all large religious bodies in Russia, most 
significantly the Moscow Patriarchate, as tools of propaganda 
and influence. In Russia itself, there is no real freedom of 
religion, both at the level of laws that significant limit the 
activities of religious organizations and put them under 
governmental control, and even more so at the level of 
practice.
    The situation is even worse in the territories of Ukraine 
occupied by Russia, where all Ukrainian religious organizations 
are not--that are not loyal to the occupation authorities are 
persecuted. Our priests are kidnapped and harassed, forced to 
join the Russian Orthodox Church and cooperate with the 
occupiers. The property of religious communities is seized and 
used as desired by the occupiers. Ukrainian citizens are 
forcibly compelled to accept Russian passports and treated as 
citizens of Russia. Without a Russian passport, residents of 
the occupied territories become effectively illegal.
    The structures of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 
occupied territories are actually one of the instruments of 
influence and control. Metropolitan Yevstratiy will in his 
address illustrate a number of specific threats. In closing my 
remarks, I want to draw attention to one key threat, the 
Russian Orthodox Church and its governing structure, the Moscow 
Patriarchate, headed by Kirill Gundyaev, do not just cooperate 
with the Kremlin. They themselves have become part of the 
Russian State apparatus. The Moscow Patriarchate is not like a 
traditional religious body. In reality, it is a Russian 
Government Agency that performs the functions of managing and 
controlling religious life, not only in Russia but also 
everywhere the Russian church has spread.
    Professing conservative values through the patriarchate, 
the Kremlin seeks to recruit a range of religious bodies as 
partners or allies, particularly in America. In essence, the 
Moscow Patriarchate is in the religious dimension of that the 
network RT, Russia Today, is in the information space--an 
instrument of propaganda and hybrid aggression. Ukraine, and 
the entire free world, must respond to this challenge of 
religious institutions that have been transformed into 
instruments of aggression and war. I hope that appropriate 
proposals for the U.S. Congress will be the fruit of these 
hearings.
    I would like to take this opportunity to thank the 
Congress, Government, and people of the United States of 
America for supporting Ukraine, our people--and our people in 
this struggle for freedom against tyranny. May God guide you in 
your deliberations. May God bless us all. Metropolitan 
Epiphaniy.
    Representative Wilson: Thank you very much, Ms. Pappas. 
What a moving testimony, and from the heart, you can tell. As 
we proceed, we now have The Most Reverend Metropolitan 
Yevstratiy of Bila Tserkva by video.
    [Pause for technical difficulties.]
    Representative Wilson: With technical difficulties, we will 
proceed immediately to our next witness. We re so grateful to 
have Reverend Dr. Igor Bandura with us. He is the Vice 
President of international affairs for the Baptist Union of 
Ukraine. So, Reverend, thank you so much for being here, and we 
look forward to your testimony.

   TESTIMONY OF REVEREND DR. IGOR BANDURA, VICE PRESIDENT OF 
     INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS FOR THE BAPTIST UNION OF UKRAINE

    Dr. Bandura: Dear Mr. Chairman, dear members of the 
committee, dear attendees, I have the honor to testify before 
you today representing the Evangelical Protestant Churches of 
Ukraine. [Comes on mic.]
    Dear Mr. Chairman, dear members of the committee, dear 
attendees, I have the honor to testify before you today 
representing the Evangelical Protestant churches of Ukraine. 
Today I speak on behalf of more than 6,000 churches, the 
largest group of Evangelical Protestant churches in Europe.
    As a minister of a Baptist Church, I want to point out the 
experience of religious oppressions and persecution during the 
Russian War against Ukraine is common to all Evangelical 
Protestant Churches. In the last document that was published on 
April 11, 2023, after the meeting of the chairman of the 
Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, with the Ukrainian 
Council of Churches and the religious organization on the issue 
of state-church relations in the context of the Russian war 
against Ukraine, it was noted, quote, ``Ukraine is known in the 
world for its high level of religious freedom, religious 
pluralism, the absence of a State church, the equality of all 
religious organization before the law, developed interreligious 
dialog and cooperation between different churches. During the 
war, caused by Russian unjustified aggression, a high level of 
freedom of religion is maintained in Ukraine. There are no 
religious persecution, and democratic institutions and 
procedure continue to operate.'' The end of the quote.
    The only places where the problems with religious freedom 
have occurred are the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia 
in 2014 and then, since the beginning of the massive aggression 
started on February 24, 2022. The situation also looked 
depressing since almost all the leaders of main religious 
denominations in Russia directly or indirectly supported 
Russia's war against Ukraine and thereby agreed to the 
suffering of their fellow believers in Ukraine.
    The concept of religious freedom for all turned out to be 
not only unacceptable and foreign for the Russian Government, 
which brought destruction and actually invited slavery to 
Ukrainians, but also aligned to the main religious 
denominations of Russia, which themselves suffer from 
restriction of religious freedom by the State.
    The situation since 2014. Evangelical Protestant Churches 
in the occupied Crimea found themselves in a situation of 
religious restrictions during the period of the late Soviet 
Union. All life and activity is localized exclusively in church 
premises. As one minister testified, quote, ``They beat us, but 
they do not even let us cry.'' This emotional assessment 
reflects a general situation at the current moment.
    On the territories of the occupied Luhansk region, Baptist 
Churches, together with Jehovah's Witnesses, were recognized as 
terrorist organizations with all the correspondent 
consequences. All churches have lost their State registration, 
and to this day are in an uncertain status and full restriction 
of religious right.
    Churches in the occupied territory of Donetsk region are in 
a slightly easier situation, but they also do not have legal 
status and are completely limited in their activities. A 
sufficient number of testimonies and materials have been 
collected since 2014 and transferred to various international 
human rights organizations.
    I had the honor of being a part of the Ukrainian delegation 
in 2014 and participating in the similar hearing in the U.S. 
Congress on the situation with religious restrictions in the 
territories occupied by Russia. Unfortunately, since then, the 
situation has only worsened.
    The situation since February 24, 2022--since the beginning 
of the war--and here I can recommend to look at these materials 
which have some statistics, and also there are two pages of 
testimonies and some QR code you can go and see video 
testimonies of real people--pastors and priests--and their 
experience of being under religious oppression. Since the 
beginning of the war, 172 church buildings have been 
significantly damaged or completely destroyed--among them: 
Pentecostals, 75; Baptists, 51; Adventists, 24; others, 22. The 
buildings of three seminaries were bombed and looted--among 
them: Baptists, two educational institutions in Kherson and 
Irpin; and Pentecostal, one educational institution in Kyiv.
    This is a testimony of president of Tavriski Christian 
Institute. Quote, ``When Ukrainian Evangelicals have been 
experiencing various forms of persecution from Russian 
occupants during the occupation of the Kherson region. This is 
an example of the religious persecution initiated by the 
Russian Army as a property of the institute and Evangelical 
Seminary in Kherson, which was occupied on March 11, 2022, and 
liberated 8 months after. TCI Seminary in Kherson was a key 
Evangelical school in the south of Ukraine. However, it was 
occupied by Russian Army and turned into a military base and 
hospital. Since then, the campus has been robbed, and all 
valuables were stolen. Five campus buildings were completely 
ruined, and Christian literature in English and Ukrainian 
translations was burned or sent to a dump, as Russians 
considered it propaganda literature.
    Furthermore, Christian paintings were destroyed or stolen. 
Russian soldiers also threatened local Christians, including 
TCI Staff, by saying that they deserved to be eliminated or dug 
into the ground. This kind of threat is not only terrifying, 
but also excludes any church from the right to exist except for 
the Russian Orthodox Church.
    The occupation of TCI Seminary has had a significant 
emotional impact on its staff and local Christian community 
which cannot be underestimated as it affects the well-being of 
the local Christian community. Besides, it will have a long-
lasting, negative impact on the development of Evangelical 
Churches and education in the region.
    It is essential to ensure that the Ukrainian Evangelical 
community in Kherson region can restore its churches and 
seminaries, and that local believers can go back to worship and 
education.'' The end of the quote.
    Two hundred thirty churches that belong to the Baptist 
Union ceased to exist in the occupied territories. Most of the 
church members and pastors had to leave, saving their lives. 
These people lost not only their churches, but all their homes, 
and their usual life. Most families are separated. People are 
scattered all over the country. Thousands were forced to 
evacuate to Russia. Many are still there, and some found their 
way out of Russia, and together with millions of others became 
refugees in European countries and even in the United States of 
America.
    The ideology of Russian world, carried by the occupying 
Russian Army, does not tolerate either freedom or freedom of 
religion. All churches that are not Orthodox or the Moscow 
Patriarchate must disappear. We are talking about the 
existential threat for Evangelical believers.
    One example of occupied Vasylivka--on June 12, 2022, armed 
Russian occupiers came to the local church in the city of 
Vasylivka, Zaporizhzhia region, drove everyone out of the house 
of prayer, conducted a search, then sealed the building, took 
the keys, and said that totalitarian sects have no place in 
liberated Vasylivka. The pastor of the church, Mikolo Zholovan 
was placed under house arrest, having previously confiscated 
computer disk with all available information. Then, at the end 
of June, the pastor was arrested and held in the so-called 
Military Commandant's Office for almost 2 days. In the end the 
pastor was released, but the premises of the house of prayer 
were never returned. Numerous attempts to return it--by the 
way, the building is a historical monument--were unsuccessful. 
The church building has not yet been returned to the church.
    There are many cases of abuse, kidnapping and torture of 
pastors and active church members. Of course we understand that 
many cases cannot be documented because the number of victims 
who are not ready to give public testimony about the horrors 
they experienced. Among the main reasons are shame, and danger 
for themselves or their relatives who still stayed in the 
occupied territories, or those who were forcibly deported to 
Russia. There is two examples.
    One, Oleg Bondarenko, Pentecostal Pastor. He is a minister 
of the Christian Rehabilitation Center attached to the 
Pentecostal Church in the village of Motyzhyn, Kyiv region. At 
the beginning of the invasion, the Russians captured this 
center because they decided that there was a Ukrainian Military 
base there. They said the drug rehab center was a cover. Oleg 
was arrested and spent three days in prison. He himself was 
tortured, and also can hear the screams of civilians being 
killed by Russians. They tied me to the railing, he said. They 
started practicing blows. Then I was tied to a quad bike and 
dragged to the base where they tortured people.
    Oleg was in a well without water for two days. When the 
Ukrainian Military counterattacked, Oleg prayed that the 
Russians would simply forget about him as they retreated. On 
March 27, he managed to escape.
    Alexander Salfetnikov is the pastor of the Light of the 
Gospel Church in Balakleya. This is a city that has been under 
the occupation of the Russian Army since the first days of the 
full-scale invasion. During the first two months of the 
occupation, Alexander, together with his team of church 
members, had been helping to evacuate people to peaceful 
territories and providing humanitarian help to people in need. 
Every Sunday he faithfully conducted church services.
    On May 17, the Russian military arrested him. Russian 
soldiers came to him, put a bag on his head, and took him to a 
cell. Although it was designed for two or three people, 18 
people were there. Later he was taken to the first 
interrogation during which he was severely beaten. Alexander 
noticed that the interrogation was conducted by a man who 
furiously hated Evangelical Christians.
    During the second interrogation, Alexander was accused of 
being an American agent. He was beaten again so that he could 
no longer stand on his feet. After that, he became so sick that 
he was taken to the hospital. After the hospital, he was 
brought home because he could not walk. For a long time he was 
carried in a wheelchair, then he walked with a cane. In this 
way, God saved him from inevitable death.
    On September 11, 2022, the Church of Evangelical Christian 
Grace in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, was occupied by the 
Russian military. Armed soldiers broke into the church right 
during the service. They collected the passports of all those 
present and announced the nationalization of the church 
building. In addition, the church members were accused of ties 
to the United States of America. At the beginning of 2023, the 
church ceased its activities.
    In January 2023, the Russian occupying Army took the house 
of prayer from Transfiguration Baptist Church in the city of 
Lysychansk, Luhansk region. They took out everything that was 
of value to them, and later they settled several dozen Russian 
soldiers there. Today those believers who remain in the 
occupation are deprived of their building and the opportunity 
to gather together. These are just some real examples of 
religious persecution.
    We are aware that the situation with religious oppression 
in the occupied territories will change only when the Ukrainian 
Army liberates those territories and return Ukrainian 
jurisdiction there. We ask everyone involved to continue to 
monitor the situation and carefully collect and document all 
the facts of restrictions on religious freedom. All crimes must 
be punished, and criminals must be brought before international 
court. Justice and freedom demand our joint efforts and 
protection. Thank you.
    Representative Wilson: Thank you very much, Dr. Bandura. We 
now proceed by video with the Metropolitan Yevstratiy of Bila.
    [Confers off mic.] Uh-huh, I think.
    Staff: Sir, we going to see if we can get him on the phone. 
They are still having some technical--let's ask for questions. 
Let's go to questions now, and then once we--
    Representative Wilson: Okay, and there are still some 
technical difficulties, but we are going to proceed--such an 
enterprising staff we have here.
    As we begin, I want to thank Dr. Bandura for bringing this 
to our attention, and I hope people will look this up. The 
Institute of Religious Freedom--the website is irf.in.ua. The 
email address is [email protected]. Again, the 
website--people really need to go to this--irf.in.ua. This is 
part of my 5 minutes--and that is that each of us, including 
the Chairman, will be limited to 5 minutes in terms of 
questions, and then--so this is part of my 5 minutes. I was so 
impressed by this document.
    Something also--how important it is that actually real 
people are cited. It is not just a generic indication. Can you 
imagine a manual that people--this is real, and so people in 
the United States, around the world need to see the consequence 
of the persecution of people of religious faith, and this 
document is just so helpful and so positive.
    I have always said that this particular conflict, this 
could be unlike any ever, and that is that--I really picked 
this up from a German newspaper, the Handelskrieg, and that is 
it is a cellphone war. The incredible opportunity that the 
people of Ukraine have, the people of the world, is that they 
can document the atrocities that are occurring almost 
immediately. They can also document the individuals committing 
the atrocities, and then, with facial recognition, people will 
be identified. Then in line with prosecution of war crimes, 
they will be brought to justice, and then the chain of command 
can be determined. The Russian troops that are being 
sacrificed--from my perspective--by Putin and placed in this 
situation, they should know that their conduct is going to be 
monitored.
    No war has ever been committed in such full view as what we 
have today, so something can come out of--good out of this.
    With questions--and Dr. Bandura, you get the opportunity to 
answer all of them. So--
    Staff: Sir, I was going to say we do have now the 
Metropolitan via cellphone--to your point on cellphone wars.
    Representative Wilson: Well, thank goodness for cellphones, 
and so now you are going to--so Metropolitan, we are so honored 
to have you with us.
    Reverend Yevstratiy: Yes.
    Representative Wilson: Thank you--
    Reverend Yevstratiy: Can you hear me?
    Representative Wilson: Yes, we can, and thank you. We look 
forward to your testimony, and we are just grateful for your 
service for the people of Ukraine.
    Reverend Yevstratiy: Thank you. Thank you so much.

TESTIMONY OF MOST REVEREND YEVSTRATIY [ZORIA], METROPOLITAN OF 
                          BILA TSERKVA

    Honorable members of the U.S. Congress, and all 
participants of this hearing, ladies and gentlemen, thank you 
for allow me this opportunity to participate in this important 
gathering.
    In his address to you, the primate of our Orthodox Church 
of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epiphaniy, outlined the main 
challenges facing our country and the world as a result of 
Kremlin aggression. I would like to focus on one of these in 
more detail.
    In both Ukraine and Russia, the majority of the population 
profess Christianity and adherence to the Orthodox Church. 
Formally, we recognize the same dogma. We have the same 
liturgy. We recognize the same canon law. You probably are 
aware that world orthodoxy exists as a family of local churches 
and are independent of each other in matters of governance, but 
remain united in matters of doctrine and practice of religion.
    Traditionally the borders of the territories of local 
churches coincide with the borders of the states formed by 
their respective peoples, now or in the past. Therefore, also 
we all consider ourselves a single church administratively. 
There are independent churches of Greece and Romania, Bulgaria, 
Georgia, Cyprus, and Serbia, Ukraine, and Russia, et cetera.
    The Ukrainian and Russian Churches were formed and exist 
under different historical conditions. From the beginning of 
the creation of the Grand Duchy of Muscovy in 14th century, the 
Russian Church exist as a State Institution historically. In 
Ukraine, the Orthodox Church was a populist institution. The 
problem pointed out by Metropolitan Epiphaniy namely is that 
Moscow Patriarchate is a State Agency of the Kremlin for 
religious matters and should be treated as such is not a new 
problem. The Moscow Church was formed and, for centuries, 
operated in this format.
    For three centuries, Ukraine was subordinated to Russia. 
Until the end of the last century, the imperial political 
system of Russia used control over the Orthodox Church in 
Ukraine as one of the main tools for dissolving Ukrainian 
identity, imperial unification, and Russification of Ukraine. 
Then, when Ukraine regained independence in 1991, a large 
portion of the Orthodox believers and clergy severed 
administrative ties with the Moscow Patriarchate, forming a 
church independent from it.
    As a root of this complex but inexorable moment, this 
independent church received recognition from the Ecumenical 
Patriarchate of Constantinople. We are the Orthodox Church of 
Ukraine.
    At the same time, the structure of Russian Orthodox Church 
continues to exist in Ukraine--and also it called itself 
Ukrainian, and even made statements about its alleged 
independence from Moscow--actually remains subordinate to the 
Moscow Patriarchate. According to independent scientific 
surveys, today 55 percent of the population of Ukraine 
currently identify as members of our independent Orthodox 
Church of Ukraine, and no more than 4 percent as members of the 
Moscow Patriarchate. In the early years, especially during the 
years of dominance of Pro-Russian political forces in the 
Government of Ukraine, the Moscow Patriarchate was able to 
concentrate under its control many temples and religious 
buildings. Over three decades, Moscow has used these structures 
to vigorously propagate the ideology of Russkiy Mir--Russian 
world--which justifies Russian imperialism and military 
aggression.
    The Institute for the Study of War has shown in its 
research that Moscow used the network of the Moscow 
Patriarchate in Ukraine for a long time before the invasion to 
prepare for a rapid offensive and to establish control during 
the planned occupation. Moreover, some clergy and laypeople 
carry out the Kremlin's plans without even realizing that they 
are participating in that.
    In the leadership structure of the Moscow Patriarchate in 
Ukraine for the past two decades, Andriy Derkach, an agent of 
the Russian special services officially recognized by the U.S. 
Government, has played a significant shadow role. Vadim 
Novinsky, a corruption politician and oligarch who holds the 
rank of deacon of the Moscow Patriarchate, also has a decisive 
influence on the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate in 
Ukraine. These two individuals have, and to a large extent 
continue to have, shadow control over the activities of the 
Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine. We believe that in the interest 
of countering Russian hybrid aggression and in order to protect 
freedom of religion, these individuals and those associated 
with them should be subject to international sanctions.
    One of the great gifts that the United States Constitution 
has given the world is the idea that the state must guarantee 
both free exercise and non-establishment equally for all 
religion. This concept, which is reflected in Ukraine's modern 
Constitution, requires that the state treat religious practices 
with respect, but also means that religious bodies are subject 
to the neutral and universal law of the land. The state cannot 
allow any organization--secular or religious--to use its status 
as a cover for criminal activity, especially activity aiding an 
invading force during a time of war. The security and 
protection of Ukraine from Russian hybrid aggression can place 
a mutual legislative ban on administrative subordination of 
Ukrainian religious organization to Russian centers. These 
centers--not only the Russian Orthodox Church, but also main 
religious centers of, for example, certain Muslim or Protestant 
Christian groups--are under the control and influence of the 
Kremlin and are used to support Russia's War in Ukraine.
    This is not about interfering with any individual religious 
practices in Ukraine, but exclusively about taking away from 
Russia the tool of administrative control of religious bodies 
in Ukraine. Essentially the same mechanism would be used as 
those that recognize the legitimate free press by banning state 
propaganda outlet--those which keep open the free markets while 
banning actions which would undermine the nation's sovereignty.
    At a meeting of Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious 
Organizations with the head of our parliament, all the main 
religious denominations of Ukraine--with the sole and obvious 
exception of the Moscow Patriarchate--agreed with the need to 
adopt such a law and express their readiness to participate in 
its discussion in preparation for the final vote.
    In conclusion, I would like to thank the Congress, 
Government, and all the people of United States for supporting 
freedom of religion, and to testify that the Orthodox Church of 
Ukraine is open to cooperation with all interested 
institutions, including the Helsinki Commission.
    Thank you, and may God bless you and protect all who today 
fight for our freedom. Thank you so much.
    Representative Wilson: Thank you very much, Metropolitan, 
and we now will proceed to questions. Each of the Members of 
Congress who are here will have 5 minutes, including me, and I 
lose the first minute because I have already used that up for 
the beginning.
    For both Dr. Bandura and Metropolitan, a question for each 
of you, and that is there have been denunciation of Putin's war 
by priests and religious institutions in Russia, and they have 
been recently silenced, of course. Outside of Russia, do the 
Orthodox priests of the Russian Orthodox Church, are they able 
to speak freely or are they carefully monitored?
    Reverend Yevstratiy: As I see and as I know, it is a great 
problem that no one hierarch--no one bishop, archbishop or 
metropolitan of Russian Orthodox Church, outside Russia--in 
Europe, in America, or anywhere, raises their voice, against 
Putin's agression.
    I saw some examples of persecution from church leadership 
of Moscow Patriarchate--those priests who raise their voice 
against war. For example, it has happened in Lithuania, where a 
group of Orthodox priests from patriarchy of Moscow 
Patriarchate from the very beginning had the official statement 
against Russian aggression, and very quickly the Metropolitan 
of Moscow Patriarchate in Lithuania put them under repression, 
banned for them to perform liturgies, and so on. Finally, for 
more than half of the year, they were under canonical church 
oppression. Then they were accepted as a clergy to Ecumenical 
Patriarchate of Constantinople.
    I know about one parish in Holland that transferred from 
Moscow Patriarchate to Ecumenical Patriarchate of 
Constantinople, Russian Community, for the same reason, that 
they do not share official position of Moscow Patriarchate 
supporting Putin's aggression. Generally, it is a pity to say 
but Moscow Patriarchate unfortunately, in their leadership, 
including hierarchs of Russian Orthodox Church in United States 
and in Europe, they keep silent or try to justify in some way 
Russia's political position.
    Representative Wilson: Well, thank you, Metropolitan. That 
is sad. Thank you for making that revelation.
    Then, in lieu of a question, I would like to again refer 
people to the Institute for Religious Freedom, the website 
irf.in.ua. Email is [email protected]. The reason--I am hoping 
that, again, using the cellphone technology, that the 
destruction of different religious sites within Ukraine can be 
documented and then provided to the world, because the looting 
needs to be identified and recognized.
    We now proceed in the most bipartisan of fashion to 
Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver of Missouri.

    STATEMENT OF EMMANUEL CLEAVER, U.S. HOUSE FROM MISSOURI

    Representative Cleaver: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    I am struggling trying to understand more than on a surface 
level how the Russians are using the church. Can you help me? 
What is the theology that is being used? I mean, is there a 
theology that the Russian people are fed, that Jesus was 
Russian or--I mean, what--I am not sure I know how to ask the 
question differently. There is something that is generally used 
to capture people to one side, and particularly if it is the 
evil side. I am trying to think of a synonym for evil. It is 
hard for me to just accept that a large segment of the 
population would just follow the Russian Orthodox Church unless 
there is an appealing theology.
    Representative Wilson: Metropolitan or Dr. Bandura, if you 
would like to answer. Something you should be aware, and that 
is that Congressman Cleaver is really speaking from the heart. 
He himself is a Baptist minister.
    Representative Cleaver: United Methodist.
    Representative Wilson: He has the background of theological 
interest and concern and devotion. Either one of you who would 
like to answer.
    Dr. Bandura: I will try to do so.
    First, unfortunately, as I told in my statement and as 
Metropolitan Yevstratiy told in his video message, we must 
divide in our consideration our attitude to Russian Orthodox 
Church as a community of believers and clergy, historical 
community of Christians in Russia, with huge amount of examples 
of sanctity, of dedication to Christianity and so on, and 
ruling structure, Moscow Patriarchate, as Kremlin's agency for 
religious affairs and control over Russian Orthodox Church and 
Orthodox activity. Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev himself and his 
entourage, they just use religious language. They just use 
gospel, names of Lord Jesus, and faith to justify current 
Kremlin policy.
    It reminds me of the time of Soviet Union, when Moscow 
Patriarchate was totally controlled by Soviet Government. You 
know that officially this patriarchate told, especially outside 
Soviet Union, that they had no persecution, they had no 
interference in the religious matter from Soviet Government, 
and so on. In reality, it was not true.
    Now we can see the same. Russian Orthodox Church, as a 
community of believers--I would like to use this term--they are 
in captivity by government. They are controlled by government. 
From inside of this church, especially from Russia, it is not 
possible to have independent voice, with the exception of very 
few people who are so brave to criticize this position of 
Kirill Gundyaev and the official leadership of Moscow 
Patriarchate.
    Unfortunately, they just use their position as Christian 
leaders, as the official representative of the church, to 
justify Kremlin policy. In reality, Kirill Gundyaev, other top 
hierarchs, are just some--comparable with other Russian top 
officials. Like Sergey Lavrov, who is the chief of Russian 
diplomacy, or Shoigu, who is the chief of Russian Army, Kirill 
Gundyaev is official of Kremlin administration for religious 
affairs. I think it is not possible to find in his position 
something which is really related with Christianity, Orthodoxy, 
Gospel, and to Jesus' teaching.
    Thank you.
    Representative Wilson: Mr. Bandura, thank you very much.
    Representative Cleaver: I spent time in Turkey. On 
Thursdays the Government, Erdogan, they would send out the 
message to all the Mosques for Friday, for the service. They 
controlled the theology. I mean, the Nazis--they slayeth our 
Lord. You know, we need to get rid of them. They slayeth our 
Lord. I mean, there is always something; you know, the 
Crusaders, 12 million people slaughtered in the name of serving 
the Lord.
    There is something. I apologize if I cannot connect it 
right now. Please.
    Reverend Yevstratiy: There is theology behind that, but 
unfortunately bad theology.
    Representative Cleaver: Yes.
    Reverend Yevstratiy: It is not only theology, but a mixture 
of theology, nationalism, and imperial spirit.
    Representative Cleaver: Okay.
    Reverend Yevstratiy: There is a concept of the Third Rome. 
Moscow is the Third Rome. There was one Rome, and the second 
one and the third one. The prophecy was this is the last one. 
According to this idea, Russia is the last blessing, messianic 
blessing, for the rest of the world. The West is morally 
corrupted. The West is liberal. The West neglected biblical 
conservative values. Russia is the last defender of traditional 
values, and Russia is the messianic power to rescue the rest of 
the world and bring the pure gospel back to the world.
    This is something bigger than--it is a mixture of different 
ideas. This is behind all of that. This is why, under these 
beliefs, it is easy for Russian, both statesmen and religious 
leaders, to say that it is not the war but it is a special 
military operation. What difference it makes? What for them is 
difference: If it is special military operation, then you can 
kill Russians--Ukrainians.
    If you believe that the simplest confession of faith of all 
Christians is very short--Jesus is lord--but it seems like in 
Russia it is State is lord. Now everybody should pay legacy to 
the State, and then the State is the main one. The State 
dictate to the Church what to do. All this theology is behind 
that. There is theology, but it is bad theology. In fact, as 
many Orthodox Churches already stated, it is a modern heresy. 
The ideology of Russian war is a modern heresy, and it was 
already condemned by several largest Orthodox Church in the 
world.
    Representative Cleaver: I appreciate that. Theology is 
stinkin' thinkin'. Thank you.
    Representative Wilson: Thank you very much, Congressman 
Cleaver.
    We now proceed to Congressman Mike Lawler. We can recognize 
that he was bright enough to marry a member of the Orthodox 
Church. Congressman Lawler, all the way from New York.

       STATEMENT OF MIKE LAWLER, U.S. HOUSE FROM NEW YORK

    Representative Lawler: Thank you, Chairman. My wife is from 
Moldova. She is Christian Orthodox. I have been there. I have 
been in the Orthodox Churches in Moldova.
    As religious leaders, what message do you have for those 
using religion to justify violence? I think all of us here 
certainly are of the belief that, you know, frankly, that is 
the opposite of what religion is supposed to be doing. Religion 
is about unifying, bringing people together in faith and, you 
know, forging ahead to a more peaceful future. What would you 
say, as religious leaders, to those in Moscow or elsewhere that 
are using religion as a vehicle to promote violence and hatred 
and destruction across the world?
    Representative Wilson: Metropolitan can proceed first, and 
then we will go to Dr. Bandura.
    Reverend Yevstratiy: Thank you for your question. I think 
that in your question it is possible to hear the answer, 
because evil has no justification. Evil itself lie itself. It 
has no justification. From very beginning we try to call 
religious leaders in Russia open their eyes, open their ears, 
open their mind, to understand that Russian aggression and 
justification of Russian aggression, it is not just against 
Ukraine or against Europe or global West or United States. It 
is against Russia itself, because sooner or later Putin's 
regime will fall down. Russian nation and Russian religious 
leaders will bear this responsibility for a decay.
    It reminds me of the phenomena of so-called German 
Christians, Protestants and Catholics, who supported the Nazi 
regime. After World War II, Christian Churches in Germany goes 
through the process of repentance and recognizes that they 
behaved indeed wrong against gospel and Jesus' teaching. Now we 
see the same process, and lessons of history from that time 
must remind these leaders that, sooner or later, truth will 
prevail. Everybody who tries to justify evil will be 
responsible and must bear this responsibility in front of 
mankind, and indeed in front of God himself.
    Thank you.
    Representative Wilson: Thank you very much, Metropolitan.
    We now proceed to Dr. Bandura.
    Dr. Bandura: I think the message of all religious leaders 
should be very clear. There is no justification of aggression 
on religious basis in the Bible, in the Quran, in the Torah. 
This would be very--this should be stated and repeated 
constantly and very clear. Everything else is misinterpretation 
and misrepresentation of religious view.
    I may mention that well-respected Rabbi, Chief Rabbi of 
United Kingdom, who passed away 2 years ago, Jonathan Sacks, he 
is very clear on that. He gives many testimonies, just speaking 
from--speaking about three religions that, basically, are 
descendants of Abraham. That is Christian, Jewish people, and 
Muslim people. He--in his book, he gives many examples from the 
first book of the Bible, sharing the examples how descendants 
of Abraham and then Isaac and Jacob, even despite they were, 
like, two different lives, they were looking for peaceful 
coexistence. He give good lessons for us, more than religious 
leaders, how we can build relationship and trust, even with 
those who do not believe in God as we do.
    Ukrainians are very good example of religious peace and 
understanding, because their council of churches and religious 
organizations consists with all Christian Churches--Orthodox, 
Catholic, Greek Catholics, Evangelicals. It also includes 
Jewish Community in Ukraine and Muslim Community in Ukraine. 
Even in his document I cited in my presentation was unanimously 
accepted by all these people. We worked in the agreement.
    We have very respectful relationship between leaders. We 
have a tested history of 25 years of working together on the 
issue and matters that are important for our people. This is an 
example when we speak in the one voice against the war, against 
the aggression. I believe this is the best way to represent 
religious truth about war and war crime and religious 
oppression in our time.
    Representative Wilson: Thank you very much, Dr. Bandura.
    We now proceed to Congressman Marc Veasey of Texas.

        STATEMENT OF MARC VEASEY, U.S. HOUSE FROM TEXAS

    Representative Veasey: Mr. Chairman, thank you very much 
and appreciate this hearing because I think this is really 
important.
    We have seen in the past conflicts around the world where 
religion, religious symbols, those things have been, you know, 
used against people, you know, sometimes for psychological 
warfare reasons but, certainly, they have been used against 
people and countries, you know, for some sort of a gain.
    I was just, you know, wondering, you know, how has Russia's 
physical destruction of churches and places of religious 
significance affected the people of Ukraine?
    Dr. Bandura: In this document that I shared, you can--you 
can find it. You can pay attention that 494 Church buildings 
and holy places have been either destroyed or severely damaged.
    Representative Veasey: How many of those are--and I am not 
sure if they keep things like historical records or historical 
markers in Ukraine but how many of those would be considered of 
historical significance?
    Dr. Bandura: I would say at least one-third of these 
buildings.
    Representative Veasey: Yes. Wow.
    Dr. Bandura: What is a matter of fact, if you look this--to 
the bottom of the page you will find out that the biggest 
number of churches destroyed belongs to Moscow Patriarchate. 
You know, so it is a tragedy because they are standing for the 
war and they destroyed the churches that belong to their fellow 
Christians, that belong to their church, and it is a tragedy so 
we should stop that.
    Representative Veasey: Yes. Yes. What about--you know, 
because there is a commonality, you know, throughout the entire 
region, you know, whether it is Moldova, Romania, you know, I 
think that I was reading one of the testimonies that said that, 
you know, there is even a common, like, liturgy, you know, that 
is shared.
    Do you--or do you think that long term this is going to 
cause a split to where, you know, that sort of commonality is 
shared will no longer take place anymore, that all of these 
different countries will sort of form, you know, their own, you 
know, offshoots or maybe even new religions that sort of look 
very similar to the ROC but may not exactly, you know, be like 
they look today?
    Dr. Bandura: From our perspective of leaders of Evangelical 
Protestant Churches, as a matter of fact, is the relationship 
between State and Church. Like, in Ukraine we do not have State 
Church. All the churches are equal and because of this we have 
peaceful relationship and we can work together.
    Like, in Moldova you have democracy and you have separation 
of Church and State. You do not have much of the problems. In 
Russia what we understand the church is connected with the 
State and, in fact, the church became like a Department of 
State and here you hear all the differences and here you hear 
all the problems and divisions. I think Orthodox people can 
speak on their experience.
    From our side, as long as you have this unity between 
Church--Orthodox Church and State you will have problems and 
such State as Russia would always use religion and Orthodox 
Church in their own causes against its neighbors because we 
should realize it is not about, like, two countries, one Muslim 
and the other is Christian. We are talking about two Christian 
countries. We are talking about majority of people in Ukraine 
and in Russia believe they are Orthodox people. Why are they 
fighting?
    Representative Veasey: Right.
    Dr. Bandura: Why are Russian Orthodox patriarch preached 
something like we called Orthodox Jihad when he said if you go 
to fight against Ukraine and you will die at the front line you 
would go right to paradise. It is not--it is not Christian 
theology. There was nothing like that even in Orthodox Church. 
This is the consequences of church being a part of the State 
politics and State propaganda.
    Representative Veasey: Yes. Wow. That is amazing. Okay. 
Thank you very much. I yield back.
    Representative Wilson: Thank you, Dr. Bandura, and 
Metropolitan, would you like to comment?
    Reverend Yevstratiy: Yes. I would like to add that it is 
not split between churches, Russian Orthodox Church and 
Ukrainian Orthodox Church. I told in my statement that we both 
are local, independent, in our governance--in our 
administrative matters of churches but we are the same family, 
the same Orthodox Church.
    It is a split between church and something which try to 
control church life and which pretend to represent church voice 
and to be a representative of church public faith. It is a real 
split because Moscow Patriarchate and leadership of Moscow 
Patriarchate and Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev himself, he pretends 
to be a religious leader, pretends to be a patriarch. In 
reality, as a top official, personally very rich man, a real 
oligarch, and one of the top propagandists of Kremlin, he and 
his collaborators, they just use their position in the church 
to spread Kremlin aggressive ideology, which have no real 
ground in Orthodox Christianity, Jesus' teachings, et cetera.
    This is a split not between churches but it is split 
between truth and lie, light and darkness, good and evil, and 
this split must be because we know from gospel that Jesus told 
that he brings a sword to this world, the sword of truth which 
divide, create a wall, a border, between truth and untruth, 
good and evil. Thank you.
    Representative Wilson: Thank you very much, Metropolitan.
    Now we proceed with the extraordinary insight of 
Congresswoman Victoria Spartz.

     STATEMENT OF VICTORIA SPARTZ, U.S. HOUSE FROM INDIANA

    Representative Spartz: [Off mic] --I was baptized secretly 
when I was little, I have a very good understanding of what is 
happening.
    I have a question for you as, you know, I would say Russia 
is involved in ethnic cleansing and oppression of minorities 
for a long time. What is happening in this war, a lot of, you 
know, minorities are sent to die in large numbers and a lot of 
them are not Christians. Have you heard from any, you know, 
Buddhist or Muslim leaders? Have any actually commented on 
any--sort of what is happening right now and oppressions that 
has happened within Russia of a lot of minorities dying in 
large numbers? Any of them express any concerns with that and 
oppression?
    Dr. Bandura: Yes. I do not know about Buddhists because 
this is probably a minority of minorities. Muslim community is 
mainly located in Crimea, and since 2014 they are under great 
pressure and usually when--
    Representative Spartz: I am talking about the war. Right 
now a lot of republics within Russia are not Christians.
    Dr. Bandura: Okay.
    Representative Spartz: A lot of them, you know, Russians 
that are fighting and dying in large numbers, they are from 
regions of Russia. Siberians have been oppressed by Moscow for 
a while, so--and using oppression of religion on a lot of those 
minorities. Russia had wars on that, Chechnya as an example. 
There are a lot of others that are not Christians. Have you 
heard from any leaders around the world raising concern that 
there is oppression of religious freedom within Russia and what 
is happening right now?
    Dr. Bandura: Yes. Not as many as we would like but, for 
example, when we have had the Ukrainian week here in Washington 
just recently, before that it was 3 days a conference or summit 
for religious persecution and I was present there, and many 
worldwide leaders, both political and religious, are standing 
and speaking boldly and openly about the situation in Russia.
    I think we should speak more about that. It depends how 
you--how people value their religious freedom because for some 
it is nothing. If you have working economy, if you have a 
strong army, religious freedom is not an issue. For us, we 
understand it is one of the basics.
    Representative Spartz: I understand. I understand. I do not 
know--I do not know, Metropolitan, was if you have heard from 
other leaders around the world raising this concern.
    Representative Wilson: So, Metropolitan--
    Representative Spartz: Specifically religious leaders--
Muslim religious leaders, Buddhist religious--and oppressions 
that happened in the freedom of religion within Russia with 
minorities. It just--if not, it is no. [Off mic]-- my question.
    Reverend Yevstratiy: I have no clear answer for your 
question because, you know, for a decade Russian Government and 
Official Representatives of Russian religious institutions, 
established institutions including Muslim institutions, 
Buddhist institutions, they had a lot of contact with different 
religious centers in communities around the globe. They use 
their influence in different religious communities to justify 
Kremlin policy and even religious matters in religious affairs 
including religious affairs.
    It reminds me of times of Soviet Union that in reality 
everybody outside Soviet Union knows that persecutions exist 
and churches--church of majority and church minorities are 
persecuted. Officially all religious centers in Soviet Union 
told that they do not know about any persecution. Everything is 
accord in law, et cetera, and it is a problem because in 
reality in Russia is no freedom of religion.
    You know, the so-called Yarovaya law that limited every 
aspect of church and religious lives. Even officially 
registered communities have huge limits in their activity and 
must have permission for any kind of specific activity like 
teaching for--teaching children religion or preaching publicly 
religion, et cetera. It is a problem that until now Russia 
treated more or less not like dictatorship and tyranny without 
real freedom, including freedom of religion. Until now Russia 
treated like State equal with other reasonable state.
    In reality, Russia's religious--like, you know, example of 
Jehovah Witnesses, which they are totally banned. I would like 
to raise the example of one of a Jewish community in Russia 
which faced the expelling of their leader, their Chief Rabbi, 
because this chief rabbi did not want to publicly support 
Kremlin's policy.
    He just keeps silent but Russian administration forced him 
to publicly support so-called special military operation and 
then because he did not publicly support the Kremlin's policy 
he was expelled from his position of Chief Rabbi and even 
forced to leave Russia. Now he lives in Israel. I think after 
collapse of Putin regime we will find a huge amount of 
evidences like we know now a huge amount of evidences from 
Soviet time of persecution of leaders of religious 
denominations, including minorities, in Russia.
    Now I think it is a--it is a very important matter to keep 
an eye--keep the--and watch over this situation inside Russia 
with religious freedom for all, including minorities. Thank 
you.
    Representative Spartz: Thank you. My time has expired.
    Reverend Yevstratiy: Thank you.
    Representative Spartz: I appreciate your comment. I know 
that, to your comment, Russian disinformation and propaganda 
does work here and in Europe, too, unfortunately, and we do 
some stupid things. I would like maybe was to comment not 
already here but to the team related to the proposed 
legislation dealing with religious institutions connected on 
Russia under Ukrainian law. I know that my time is expired, but 
maybe you can share your thoughts later directly with the 
staff. I would appreciate that.
    Yield back.
    Representative Wilson: Thank you very much, Congresswoman 
Spartz.
    We now proceed to Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of 
Texas.

     STATEMENT OF SHEILA JACKSON LEE, U.S. HOUSE FROM TEXAS

    Representative Jackson Lee: Thank you very much, Mr. 
Chairman. To the witnesses, thank you. We are--many of us 
diverse religions in this country but we are certainly aware of 
the higher power of religion and how religion can be the source 
of inspiration, the source of freedom.
    It can also be used as the despot Putin to intimidate, to 
murder and kill, and to deny people their precious rights of 
religious freedom. This war is horrific. The voice of the 
church needs to be heard and it is sad for me to hear that the 
Putin regime has directly taken over the Ukraine Orthodox 
Church. They are pushing out the venom of the right or 
righteousness of the war, the war that Russia has against 
Ukraine.
    I want to see the faith community in the United States be 
as helpful as they possibly can and I would be eager to hear of 
your thoughts about the overall faith community here, and as 
well have you heard of the dastardly--the bad behavior of 
Russia in stealing Ukrainian children? That, certainly, should 
go against the faithful, the people of faith. I would be 
interested in your thoughts about that.
    I just want to take a scripture-based story that reminds us 
of what should happen here. When Jesus went into the temple and 
people were doing things that were inappropriate, they were 
doing wrong things, he proceeded to send them out of the 
temple, send them out because they were wrong and they were, in 
essence, creating an atmosphere of almost crime against 
religious beliefs.
    Two things, if I can--what the faith community has been 
doing, what do we need to do, and what the faith community can 
do about the stealing of Ukrainian children. That seems to be 
something they should be concerned about.
    Dr. Bandura: It is a huge tragedy because the number of 
children forcefully sent to Russia and we do not know about 
their destiny. We do not know how many children have been 
adopted to Russian families and how many would be--how we would 
be able to bring them back.
    The matter was raised and you know that Russian President 
Putin and the chairman of this committee that is in charge for 
this, or ombudsman--children ombudsman in Russia are under 
criminal persecution now just because of this crime, stealing 
children. The number is terrific and all the children were 
brought to Russia under the idea to bring them to safe 
territories, which is terrible.
    You know, you come to destroy somebody's life and then you 
save their children from whom? From yourself. The work is going 
on and I think international pressure is very important, and we 
hope that Ukraine would be able to bring back most of these 
children.
    I would raise another concern. Not only the children that 
was literally stolen from Ukraine and sent to Russia, I would 
also raise a concern about family divided because 8 millions of 
people left Ukraine and spread all around European countries 
and the United States, and most of them are women with children 
and now children are growing without fathers. Children are 
under stress of being in new circumstances, schools where they 
do not understand the language, and it is just a terrible, 
terrible experience.
    So it is not only about children stolen. It is also 
children in divided families and it is also growing children 
that became orphans because their fathers were killed in the 
war. These three groups of children are our great concern and 
we need to--international community to keep this, to speak 
about this, to pressure Russia to change the situation for 
better.
    Representative Wilson: Thank you, Dr. Bandura.
    Representative Jackson Lee: May I quickly just add one 
quick word?
    Representative Wilson: Well, hey, even better. I want the 
Metropolitan to also answer--
    Representative Jackson Lee: That is--
    Representative Wilson: --The very heartfelt question by 
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.
    Representative Jackson Lee: I thank you, Mr. Chairman. That 
was what I was going to--can I add to Metropolitan to ask--
excuse me, to tell me about the murder of religious leaders--
the extent of murder of religious leaders. If I could hear 
about that I would appreciate it. If the Metropolitan could 
answer that. Thank you. I yield.
    Reverend Yevstratiy: Thank you so much. Thank you so much. 
It is so important question because, first of all, I would like 
to add to answer of Dr. Bandura that forced replacement of 
children from Ukrainian territory to Russia is an act of 
genocide--
    Representative Jackson Lee: Yes.
    Reverend Yevstratiy: --One of the many example of genocide 
because such behavior, such action, is clearly indicated in 
international law as one of acts of genocide.
    Concerning the killing or persecution of religious leaders, 
now we know about 15 persons affiliated with our church--
priests and other church persons from our church--who have been 
killed by Russians during the great-scale aggression. I know 
that in other religious communities they have those who been 
killed by Russians' aggression.
    The main issue is that it is not just incidents. It is not 
just part of war action but it is part of general line of 
Russian behavior on occupied territories because it is designed 
from the very beginning, even before full-scale aggression, 
that when Russian troops went to particular settlement, city or 
town or village, the Russian security services immediately 
start to find who is leaders of local community, political 
leaders like local mayor, business leaders like owner of main 
business in this town, and religious leaders.
    We know--I know from my personal experience because local 
priest of our church in Bucha near Kyiv, very known city, 
unfortunately, because the act of genocide, Father Andriy, who 
is a rector of St. Andrew's Church in Bucha he left the city on 
March 3rd, last year just a few days after the occupation of 
Bucha and next day when he was leaving his home somebody from 
Russian side tried to find him and asked his neighbors where is 
this priest.
    I know from other priests from occupied territories of 
Kherson and other places that immediately Russians try to find, 
kidnap, and force these church leaders to be collaborators. 
They try to scare them, that--one priest told that--Russians 
told him, if you do not be with us we will rape your wife, we 
will kill your children, and then we will kill you.
    This is one option. Another option you must sign agreement 
of cooperation, and this is not a accident but it is a general 
design to create atmosphere of fear. If such a respectable 
person in local community are not protected from Russian 
attacks, from Russian persecution, you--local inhabitants--have 
no real protection from new authorities. You must be loyal 
because if you will not be loyal you will face with very bad 
consequences, and it is a main problem.
    I would like to underline repeatedly that it is not a fault 
of particular soldiers or somebody else but it is part of 
general design of occupation of Ukraine to find the local 
leaders and force them to be collaborators or persecute them, 
beat them, kidnap, imprison them, and even killed. Thank you.
    Representative Wilson: Thank you. Metropolitan, thank you 
so much and I want to thank the Congresswoman for being here. 
Actually, both Congresswomen. How fortunate we are.
    As I conclude, again, I want to refer people to the 
Institute for Religious Freedom. The website is irf.in.ua, and 
people need to look this up. It is so revealing and so well 
done. With this, I would like to thank everybody for their 
participation and the extraordinary staff of the Helsinki 
Commission.
    With this we are adjourned. [Sounds gavel.]
    [Whereupon, at 2:50 p.m., the hearing ended.]

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                 Additional Submissions for the Record

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                  Additional Submission for the Record

                                 ______
                                 

                OPENING STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN JOE WILSON

    The Commission will come to order. Good afternoon to all who have 
joined us today. Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge [other 
members present].
    I would also like to enter two articles into the record that speak 
to the topic of this hearing: ``Clergymen or Spies? Churches Become 
Tools of War in Ukraine'' from the New York Times, and a TIME article 
from nearly a year ago called ``How the Russian Orthodox Church is 
Helping Drive Putin's War in Ukraine''--which shows that this is not a 
new topic, but current events and the arrests of Moscow-linked priests 
have brought things into much clearer focus, which we will hear about 
today.
    The Helsinki Commission has long championed the need to protect 
freedom of religion and belief. Although Ukraine is a State of diverse 
religions, today's hearing will focus on the largest religious group in 
Ukraine: Christians.
    We cannot talk about Christians in Ukraine without discussing war 
criminal Putin's full-scale war. The war has made life dangerous for 
many Christians in occupied areas of Ukraine who not only have to worry 
about their physical safety, but the protection of other freedoms, 
including the right to believe and worship according to one's 
conscience. Occupation authorities have used various tactics to deny 
believers the right to practice their faith, including by de facto 
banning religious groups not approved by Russian-led occupation 
governments and destroying religious materials. The main targets are 
Christians not affiliated with the Moscow controlled Ukrainian Orthodox 
Church, an arm of the Russian Orthodox Church, and any other 
``nontraditional'' religions or beliefs--that is, religions that cannot 
be controlled by the Kremlin.
    Putin is also creating an additional challenge for the Ukrainian 
Government. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, technically under Moscow's 
control, though the level of loyalty may vary--and the Orthodox Church 
of Ukraine, which officially split off from the former, are fighting 
for the future of Orthodoxy in Ukraine. The Kremlin has used Orthodox 
priests reporting to Moscow to engage in criminal activities against 
Ukraine and on behalf of Russia, including full-blown wartime 
collaboration, even storing weapons. Ukrainian authorities have sadly 
found evidence of this.
    Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has 
bizarrely contrived Putin's war, resulting in the mass murder of 
Ukrainian men, women, and children, as ``An Apocalyptic Battle Against 
Evil.''
    Human rights experts have witnessed targeting of pastors and 
churches by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, particularly of 
evangelical Christians. Sacred sites have been destroyed and looted by 
the hundreds. This is not surprising. Putin imposes widespread 
restrictions on Christians sharing their faith in Russia.
    Finally, given that our witnesses are all clergy themselves, I hope 
we will be able to discuss what religious communities around the world 
are doing to support Ukrainians, and the role of Christians in Ukraine 
during wartime.
    Our esteemed witnesses today are well-qualified to speak to the 
diversity of Ukrainian Christianity:
      First, we will hear a video message from Kyiv by His 
Beatitude Epiphaniy Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine, the leader of 
the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. We thank His Beatitude in particular 
for his time and his recognition of the importance of this discussion 
for Ukraine.

      Next, speaking on behalf of the Orthodox Church of 
Ukraine and coming to us from Ukraine via video is The Most Reverend 
Metropolitan Yevstratiy of Bila Tserkva.

      Joining us here in Washington is Rev. Dr. Igor Bandura 
Vice President of International Affairs for the Baptist Union of 
Ukraine.

      Unfortunately, we learned this morning that The Most 
Reverend Borys Gudziak Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy 
of Philadelphia and President of Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv 
will not be able to join us due to unforeseen circumstances. I 
encourage you to read his excellent testimony, which is in the briefing 
materials.

      With this, I will turn to [Commissioners present] for any 
opening remarks, after which we will hear from Metropolitan Epiphaniy.

  OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BEN CARDIN, CO-CHAIRMAN, U.S. HOUSE FROM 
                                MARYLAND

    Thank you, Chairman Wilson, for convening this hearing of the 
Helsinki Commission to look further into how Russia's genocidal war on 
Ukraine has brought intensified religious discrimination and a new 
dimension to its political influence network. As early as 2014, we saw 
Russia's suppression and de facto criminalization of largely Muslim 
Crimean Tatars after Russia illegally occupied the peninsula. This was 
only the beginning of Russia's threats to specific ethnic and religious 
groups. We should not be surprised that as Russia occupied more of 
Ukraine's territory, even more atrocities would follow. Our witnesses 
today, who represent three major Christian groups targeted simply for 
their spiritual and organizational independence from Moscow, know well 
the extent of this repression and how it has worsened since February 
24, 2022.
    Additionally, there has been a great deal of Russian disinformation 
surrounding the current conflict between the two Orthodox Churches in 
Ukraine. No world leader should be viewed entirely uncritically, and 
there are legitimate questions about how President Zelensky should 
handle Russia's nefarious influence in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. 
Finding the right balance between pushing back against Russia's 
political manipulation of some clergy, and permitting religious 
communities and their leaders to choose their own course, is not easy. 
Russian propaganda is using the clash between churches as a tool to 
slander and discredit Ukraine's democratically elected government, as 
well as try to besmirch many other Ukrainians. I hope that our 
witnesses will bring some much-needed clarity and nuance to this 
discussion.
    Ultimately, the only way to protect Ukraine's Christians, religious 
and ethnic minorities, and all Ukrainians living under foreign 
occupation is to give Ukraine what it needs to expel Russian troops and 
restore Ukraine's sovereignty over its internationally recognized 1991 
borders. At the same time, we continue to encourage Ukraine to protect 
religious freedom as is consistent with international norms and OSCE 
commitments. Ukraine faces very real internal threats from Russia, but 
it is Ukraine's commitment to strengthening human rights which makes 
them so different from their neighbor and is necessary to uphold. We 
stand ready to support them in any way we can. Thank you to our 
witnesses for sharing your firsthand experiences of the current 
challenges to religious liberty in Ukraine.

 TESTIMONY OF HIS BEATITUDE EPIPHANIY, METROPOLITAN OF KYIV AND ALL OF 
                                UKRAINE

    Honorable members of the U.S. Congress, Distinguished Guests,
    I deeply regret that for reasons beyond my control I am unable to 
join this important event dedicated to the protection of freedom of 
religion--one of the fundamental freedoms--in person. Ukrainians are 
proud that from the very begging of the restoration of Ukraine's 
independence, our State has been and remains committed to freedom of 
religion. This has made it possible, after years of Soviet repression 
and State atheism, to revive religious life in its diversity, and to 
create effective mechanisms of interreligious and interconfessional 
cooperation, such as the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and 
Religious Organizations.
    In its hybrid war against Ukraine, Russia has unleashed new types 
of threat to religious freedom, including the Kremlin's use of a 
Pseudo-Christian ideology to justify aggression, and the coopting of 
all large religious bodies in Russia, most significantly the Moscow 
Patriarchate, as tools of propaganda and influence. In Russia itself, 
there is no real freedom of religion--both at the level of laws that 
severely limit the activities of religious organizations and put them 
under government control, and even more so at the level of practice.
    The situation is even worse in the territories of Ukraine occupied 
by Russia, where all Ukrainian religious organizations that are not 
loyal to the occupation authorities are persecuted. Our priests are 
kidnapped and harassed, forced to join the Russian Orthodox Church and 
cooperate with the occupiers. The property of religious communities is 
seized and used as desired by the occupiers. Ukrainian citizens are 
forcibly compelled to accept Russian passports and treated as citizens 
of Russia. Without a Russian passport, residents of the occupied 
territories become effectively illegal. The structures of the Russian 
Orthodox Church in the occupied territories are actually one of the 
instruments of influence and control.
    Metropolitan Yevstratiy will in his address illustrate a number of 
specific threats, but in closing my remarks, I want to draw attention 
to one key threat: The Russian Orthodox Church and its governing 
structure, the Moscow Patriarchate headed by Kirill Gundyev, do not 
just cooperate with the Kremlin--they themselves have become part of 
the Russian State apparatus. The Moscow Patriarchate is not like a 
traditional religious body. In reality, it is a Russian Government 
agency that performs the functions of managing and controlling 
religious life, not only in Russia, but also everywhere the Russian 
Church has spread.
    Professing conservative values through this patriarchy, the Kremlin 
seeks to recruit a range of religious bodies as partners or allies, 
particularly in America. In essence, the Moscow Patriarchate is in the 
religious dimension what the network ``RT''--Russia Today''--is in the 
information space: An instrument of propaganda and hybrid aggression.
    Ukraine and the entire free world must respond to this challenge of 
religious institutions that have been transformed into instruments of 
aggression and war. I hope that appropriate proposals for the U.S. 
Congress will be the fruit of these hearings. I would like to take this 
opportunity to thank the Congress, Government, and people of the United 
States of America for supporting Ukraine and our people in the struggle 
for freedom against tyranny.
    May God guide you in your deliberations, and may God bless us all.

TESTIMONY OF REVEREND DR. IGOR BANDURA, VICE PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL 
                AFFAIRS FOR THE BAPTIST UNION OF UKRAINE

    Dear Chairman, dear members of the committee, dear attendees!
    I have the honor to testify before you today, representing the 
Evangelical-Protestant Churches of Ukraine. Today, I speak on behalf of 
more than 6,000 churches, the largest group of Evangelical churches in 
Europe. As the minister of Baptist churches, I want to point out that 
the experience of religious oppression and persecution during the 
Russian war against Ukraine is common to all Evangelical-Protestant 
churches.
    In the last document that was published on April 11, 2023 after the 
meeting of the Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine, Ruslan 
Stefanchuk, with the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious 
Organizations [UCCRO] on the issues of Church-State relations in the 
context of the Russian war against Ukraine, it was noted:
    Ukraine is known in the world for its high level of religious 
freedom, religious pluralism, the absence of a ``State church,'' the 
equality of all religious organizations before the law, developed 
inter-religious dialog and cooperation between different churches. 
During the war, caused by Russian unjustified aggression, a high level 
of freedom of religion is maintained in Ukraine, there are no religious 
persecutions, and democratic institutions and procedures continue to 
operate.
    The only places where the problems with religious freedom have 
occurred are the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia in 2014 and 
then since the beginning of the massive aggression started on February 
24, 2022.
    The situation also looks depressing, since almost all the leaders 
of main religious denominations in Russia directly or indirectly 
supported Russia's War against Ukraine and thereby agreed to the 
suffering of their fellow believers in Ukraine. The concept of 
religious freedom for all turned out to be not only unacceptable and 
foreign for the Russian Government, which brought destruction and 
actually invited slavery to Ukrainians, but also alien to the main 
religious denominations of Russia, which themselves suffer from the 
restriction of religious freedom by the State.

                        THE SITUATION SINCE 2014

    Evangelical-Protestant Churches in the occupied Crimea found 
themselves in a situation of religious restrictions during the period 
of the late Soviet Union. All life and activity is localized 
exclusively in church premises. As one minister testified: ``They Beat 
Us, But They Do Not Even Let Us Cry!''. This emotional assessment 
reflects the general situation at the current moment.
    On the territory of the occupied Luhansk region, Baptist Churches, 
together with Jehovah's Witnesses, were recognized as terrorist 
organizations with all the corresponding consequences. All churches 
have lost their State registration and to this day are in an uncertain 
status and full restriction of religious rights.
    Churches in the occupied territory of Donetsk region are in a 
slightly easier situation, but they also do not have legal status and 
are completely limited in their activities.
    A sufficient number of testimonies and materials have been 
collected since 2014 and transferred to various international human 
rights organizations. I had the honor of being part of the Ukrainian 
delegation in 2014 and participating in similar hearings in the US 
Congress on the situation with religious restrictions in the 
territories occupied by Russia. Since then, the situation has only 
worsened.

                 THE SITUATION SINCE FEBRUARY 24, 2022

                  THE DESTRUCTION OF CHURCH BUILDINGS

    Since the beginning of the war, 172 church buildings have been 
significantly damaged or completely destroyed. Among them: 
Pentecostals--75; Baptists--51; Adventists--24; others--22.
    The buildings of 3 seminaries were bombed and looted. Among them: 
Baptists--2 educational institutions in Kherson and Irpin; 
Pentecostals--one educational institution in Kyiv.
    Tavriski Christian Institute [TCI]. Ukrainian Evangelicals have 
been experiencing various forms of persecution from Russian occupants 
during the occupation of the Kherson region. This is an example of the 
religious persecutions initiated by the Russian Army at the property of 
Tavriski Christian Institute [TCI], an Evangelical seminary in Kherson, 
which was occupied on March 11, 2022, and liberated 8 months after. 
TCI's seminary in Kherson was a key Evangelical School in the south of 
Ukraine. However, it was occupied by the Russian Army and turned into a 
military base and hospital. Since then, the campus has been robbed, and 
all valuables were stolen. Five campus buildings were completely 
ruined, and Christian literature in English and Ukrainian translations 
was burnt or sent to a dump, as Russians considered propaganda 
literature. Furthermore, Christian paintings were destroyed or stolen. 
Russian soldiers also threatened local Christians, including TCI's 
staff, by saying that they deserve to be eliminated or dug into the 
ground. This kind of threat is not only terrifying but also excludes 
any church from a right to exist except for the Russian Orthodox 
Church.
    The occupation of TCI's seminary has had a significant emotional 
impact on its staff and the local Christian community, which cannot be 
underestimated as it affects the well-being of the local Christian 
community. Besides, it will have a long-lasting negative impact on the 
development of Evangelical Churches and education in the region. It is 
essential to ensure that the Ukrainian Evangelical Community in Kherson 
Region can restore its churches and seminaries and that local believers 
can get back to worship and education.

       CHURCHES THAT CEASED TO EXIST IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

    230 churches that belong to the Baptist Union ceased to exist in 
the occupied territories. Most of the church members and pastors had to 
leave saving their lives. These people lost not only their churches, 
but also their homes, their usual life. Most families are separated. 
People are scattered all over the country. Thousands were forced to 
evacuate to Russia. Many are still there and some found the way out of 
Russia and together with millions of other became refugees in European 
Countries and even in the USA. The ideology of ``Russian World'' 
carried by the occupying Russian Army does not tolerate either freedom 
or freedom of religion. All churches that are not Orthodox of the 
Moscow Patriarchate must disappear. We are talking about the 
existential threat for evangelical believers.
    Occupied Vasilivka. On June 12, 2022, armed Russian occupiers came 
to the local church in the city of Vasylivka [Zaporizhia region], drove 
everyone out of the house of prayer, conducted a search, then sealed 
the building, took the keys and said that totalitarian sects have no 
place in ``Liberated Vasylivka''. The pastor of the church, Mykola 
Zholovan, was placed under house arrest, having previously confiscated 
computer disks with all available information. Then, at the end of 
June, the pastor was arrested and held in the so-called ``Military 
Commandant's Office'' for almost 2 days. In the end, the pastor was 
released, but the premises of the house of prayer were never returned. 
Numerous attempts to return it [by the way, the building is a 
historical monument] were unsuccessful. The church building has not yet 
been returned to the church.

   ABUSE, KIDNAPPING AND TORTURE OF PASTORS AND ACTIVE CHURCH MEMBERS

    Many cases cannot be documented because the number of victims were 
not ready to give public testimony about the horrors they experienced. 
Among the main reasons are shame and danger for themselves or their 
relatives who remained in the occupied territories or were forcibly 
deported to Russia.
    Oleg Bondarenko, Pentecostal Pastor, is a minister of the Christian 
Rehabilitation Center attached to the Pentecostal Church in the village 
of Motyzhyn [Kyiv region]. At the beginning of the invasion, the 
Russians captured this center because they decided that there was a 
Ukrainian Military base there. They said the drug rehab center was a 
cover. Oleg was arrested and spent 3 days in prison. He himself was 
tortured and also heard the screams of civilians being killed by the 
Russians. ``They tied me to the railing, they started practicing blows. 
Then I was tied to a quad bike and dragged to the base, where they 
tortured people.'' Oleg was in a well without water for 2 days. When 
the Ukrainian Military counterattacked, Oleg prayed that the Russians 
would simply forget about him as they retreated. On March 27, he 
managed to escape.
    Oleksandr Salfetnikov is the pastor of the ``Light of the Gospel'' 
Church in Balaklia. This is the city that has been under the occupation 
of the Russian Army since the first days of the full-scale invasion. 
During the first 2 months of the occupation, Oleksandr, together with a 
team of church members, had been helping to evacuate people to peaceful 
territory and providing humanitarian help to people in need. Every 
Sunday he faithfully conducted church services. On May 17, the Russian 
Military arrested him. Russian soldiers came to him, put a bag on his 
head and took him to a cell. Although it was designed for 2-3 people, 
18 people were there. Alexander noticed that the interrogation was 
conducted by a man who furiously hated evangelical Christians. During 
the second interrogation, Alexander was accused of being an ``American 
Agent.'' He was beaten again so that he could no longer stand on his 
feet. After that, he became so sick that he was taken to the hospital. 
After the hospital, he was brought home because he could not walk. For 
a long time he was carried in a wheelchair, then he walked with a cane. 
In this way, God saved him from inevitable death.

                     THE SEIZURE OF CHURCH PREMISES

    On September 11, 2022, the Church of Evangelical Christians 
``Grace'' in Melitopol, Zaporizhia region, was occupied by the Russian 
military. Armed soldiers broke into the church right during the 
service. They collected the passports of all those present and 
announced the nationalization of the church building. In addition, the 
church members were accused of ties to the USA. At the beginning of 
2023, the church ceased its activities.
    In January 2023, the Russian occupying army took the house of 
prayer from the Transfiguration Baptist Church in the city of 
Lysychansk, Luhansk region. They took out everything that was of value 
to them, and later they settled several dozen Russian soldiers there. 
Today, those believers who remained in the occupation are deprived of 
their building and the opportunity to gather together.

                            A CALL TO ACTION

    We are aware that the situation with religious oppression in the 
occupied territories will change only when the Ukrainian army liberates 
these territories and returns Ukrainian jurisdiction there. We ask 
everyone involved to continue to monitor the situation and carefully 
collect and document all the facts of restrictions on religious 
freedom. All crimes must be punished, and criminals must be brought 
before an international court. Justice and freedom demand our joint 
efforts and protection.

  TESTIMONY OF METROPOLITAN YEVSTRATIY [ZORIA] OF ORTHODOX CHURCH OF 
                                UKRAINE

    Honorable members of the U.S. Congress, fellow participants in 
these hearings, ladies and gentlemen.
    Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to participate in this 
important gathering. In his address to you, the Primate of our Orthodox 
Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epiphany, outlined the main challenges 
facing our country and the world as a result of Kremlin aggression. I 
would like to focus on one of these in more detail.
    In both Ukraine and Russia, the majority of the population 
professes Christianity and adherence to the Orthodox Church. Formally, 
we recognize the same dogma; we have the same liturgy; we recognize the 
same canon law. You probably are aware that World Orthodoxy exists as a 
family of local Churches that are independent of each other in matters 
of governance, but remain united in matters of doctrine and practice of 
religion. Traditionally, the borders of the territories of local 
Churches coincide with the borders of the states formed by the 
respective peoples now or in the past. Therefore, although we all 
consider ourselves a single Church, administratively there are 
independent Churches of Greece and Romania, Bulgaria and Georgia, 
Cyprus and Serbia, Ukraine and Russia, etc.
    The Ukrainian and Russian Churches were formed and exist under 
different historical conditions. From the beginning of the creation of 
the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the 14th century, the Russian Church 
existed as a State institution. Historically, in Ukraine the Orthodox 
Church was a populist institution.
    So, the problem pointed out by Metropolitan Epiphany, namely that 
the Moscow Patriarchate is a State agency of the Kremlin for religious 
matters and should be treated as such, is not a new problem. The Moscow 
Church was formed and and for centuries operated in this format.
    For three centuries, when Ukraine was subordinated to Russia, until 
the end of the last century, the imperial political system of Russia 
used control over the Orthodox Church in Ukraine as one of the main 
tools for dissolving Ukrainian identity, imperial unification and 
Russification of Ukraine.
    Then, when Ukraine regained independence in 1991, a large portion 
of the Orthodox believers and clergy severed administrative ties with 
the Moscow Patriarchate, forming a Church independent from it. As a 
fruit of this complex but inexorable movement, this independent Church 
received recognition from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of 
Constantinople; We are the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. At the same 
time, the structure of the Russian Orthodox Church continues to exist 
in Ukraine, and, although it calls itself Ukrainian and even makes 
statements about its alleged independence from Moscow, actually remains 
subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate.
    According to independent scientific surveys, today 55 percent of 
the population of Ukraine currently identify as members of our 
independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and no more than 4 percent as 
members of the Moscow Patriarchate. In the early years, especially 
during the years of dominance of Pro-Russian political forces in the 
Government of Ukraine, the Moscow Patriarchate was able to concentrate 
under its control many temples and religious buildings, and over three 
decades Moscow has used these structures to vigorously propagate the 
ideology of ``Russkiy Mir'', which justifies Russian imperialism and 
military aggression.
    The Institute for the Study of War has shown in its research that 
Moscow used the network of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine for a 
long time before the invasion to prepare for a rapid offensive and to 
establish control during the planned occupation. Moreover, some clergy 
and lay people carry out the Kremlin's plans without even realizing 
that they are participating in them.
    In the leadership structure of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine 
for the past two decades, Andrii Derkach, an agent of the Russian 
special services officially recognized by the US Government, has played 
a significant shadow role. Vadym Novinsky, a pro-Russian politician and 
oligarch who holds the rank of deacon of the Moscow Patriarchate, also 
has a decisive influence on the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate 
in Ukraine. These two individuals had and to a large extent continue to 
have shadow control over the activities of the Moscow Patriarchate in 
Ukraine. We believe that in the interests of countering Russian hybrid 
aggression and in order to protect freedom of religion, these 
individuals and those associated with them should be subject to 
international sanctions.
    One of the great gifts that the United States Constitution has 
given the world is the idea that the State must guarantee both ``free 
exercise'' and ``non-establishment'' equally for all religions. This 
concept, which is reflected in Ukraine's modern Constitution, requires 
that the State treat religious practices with respect, but also means 
that religious bodies are subject to the neutral and universal laws of 
the land. The State cannot allow any organization, secular or 
religious, to use its status as cover for criminal activity, especially 
activity aiding an invading force during a time of war.
    The security and protection of Ukraine from Russian hybrid 
aggression compels a neutral legislative ban on administrative 
subordination of Ukrainian religious organizations to Russian centers. 
These centers--not only the Russian Orthodox Church, but also main 
religious centers of, for example, certain Muslim or Protestant 
Christian groups--are under the control and influence of the Kremlin 
and are used to support Russia's war in Ukraine.
    This is not about interfering with any individual religious 
practices in Ukraine, but exclusively about taking away from Russia the 
tool of administrative control of religious bodies in Ukraine. 
Essentially, the same mechanisms would be used as those that recognize 
the legitimate free press while banning State propaganda outlets, those 
which keep open the free market while banning actions which would 
undermine the Nation's sovereignty.
    At the meeting of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and 
Religious Organizations with the head of our parliament, all the main 
religious denominations of Ukraine, with the sole and obvious exception 
of the Moscow Patriarchate, agreed with the need to adopt such a law 
and expressed their readiness to participate in its discussion in 
preparation for the final vote.
    In conclusion, I would like to thank the Congress, Government, and 
the people of the United States for supporting freedom of religion, and 
to testify that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is open to cooperation 
with all interested institutions, including the Helsinki Commission.
    Thank you, and may God bless you and protect all who today fight 
for our freedoms.

 TESTIMONY OF MOST REVEREND BORYS GUDZIAK, METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOP OF 
   PHILADELPHIA OF THE UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES

    Chairman Wilson, Co-Chairman Cardin, Ranking Members Cohen and 
Wicker, Distinguished Members of the Commission and dedicated staff:
    Allow me to express deep gratitude for the prophetic work that you 
and your predecessors have been conducting for almost half a century by 
monitoring compliance with the Helsinki Accords, especially regarding 
their human rights provisions. You improve the lives of hundreds of 
millions. Thank you for your gracious invitation to testify before you 
about Russia's War on Ukraine and the spiritual roots of Ukrainian 
resilience and resistance.
    Along with facts, citations, and figures, allow me to share 
reflections on spiritual realities experienced by Ukrainians today. 
Besides going to Ukraine six times since February 2022, I have been 
privileged to visit ten countries receiving Ukrainian war refugees and 
to listen to their heartrending accounts.

                                  * * *

    In the mid 1940's after the Soviet conquest of western Ukraine, 
Stalin liquidated the visible structures of the Ukrainian Greek 
Catholic Church. Its leadership was killed, imprisoned, or exiled to 
Siberia. The clergy was arrested, tortured, and murdered. All church 
buildings were confiscated, transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church, 
or transformed into dance halls, agricultural warehouses, or machine 
shops. My mentor, Patriarch Josyf Slipyj [1892--1984], the head of the 
Church, spent 18 years in the Gulag and in 1963 was exiled from the 
Soviet Union to Rome. He became the voice of the silenced martyrs in 
the free world.
    Patriarch Josyf traveled the world witnessing to the fact that the 
persecuted but unbowed Church is alive. He often repeated that ``The 
evil will not last forever.'' Most analysts expected that the Soviet 
Union would endure for decades. Some considered his witness to be the 
senescent fancy of a man traumatized by years of detention and abuse. 
He, of course, was right, and we students were too young not to believe 
him. He had faith and hope, and he shared it. The Ukrainian Greek 
Catholic Church--illegal and in the catacombs for more than 40 years--
emerged in 1989 with singular moral authority to play a seminal role in 
the social transformations occurring in post-Soviet Ukraine. Josyf 
Slipyj's words and witness reinforce our courage today when we read and 
hear about the devastating crimes against humanity in Bucha, 
Borodianka, Irpin, and Izyum, and the personal accounts of those 
tormented under Russian occupation in Ukraine.
    Since 2014, and ever more starkly since February 2022, we are 
reminded that a centuries-long struggle continues against colonial 
forces seeking to eliminate Ukrainian identity, church life, and the 
very right for Ukrainians to exist. About his desire to advance such 
intentions the Russian president has been repeatedly explicit. The 
patterns and methods of empire--tsarist, communist, Putinist--remain 
fundamentally the same. They are evil; but, in Slipyj's words, this 
evil will not last forever. We need to do our part so it does not.

                                  * * *

    What is the fate of Ukrainian Churches under Russian rule? Here is 
a sample from a regional context. The following simplified and abridged 
list regarding conditions under Russian occupation was provided by the 
relatively modest Donetsk exarchate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic 
Church:

    Saint Joseph Parish, Enerhodar--the priest had to flee, and all the 
building materials purchased to build the church were stolen.
    Assumption of Anna Parish, Melitopol--the people gather without a 
priest.
    Nativity of the Virgin Mary Parish, Melitopol--looted.
    Ascension Parish, Lazurne--closed.
    Sts Cyril and Methodius Parish, Polianivka--closed.
    St Basil the Great Parish, Novovasylivka--closed.
    Nativity of St John the Baptist Parish, Orlove--closed.
    St Demetrius Parish, Sviatotroyitske--the people gather without a 
priest.
    St Catherine Parish, Antonivka--the chapel was looted and 
transformed into a grocery shop.
    The Transition of the Relics of St Nicholas Parish, Muratove--
damaged.
    Nativity of the Virgin Mary Parish, Kreminna--destroyed.
    Pentecost Parish, Rozdolivka--damaged.
    Seemingly dry facts and distant names, but so much excruciating 
human pain is connected with each of these attacks and losses. The 
general toll for all confessions throughout the country is shocking: 
the Russian invaders have destroyed or damaged some 500 houses of 
worship, so far.... Many priests and ministers have been arrested, 
detained, tortured, and reportedly, close to 30, have been killed. 
According to the papal nuncio in Kyiv, in the eastern most regions 
under occupation no Catholic priest, Roman or Greek, remains active. 
They have all had to leave, been arrested, or had to go into hiding. 
Public Catholic sacramental ministry has been impeded.
    This should not be a surprise to those that know the historical 
precedents. Every Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory from the 
end of the eighteenth century to the present--be it tsarist, communist, 
or Putinists--has led to the banning and destruction of the Ukrainian 
Greek Catholic Church. Those of other faith communities, at one time or 
another, have suffered persecution and prohibitions.
    Here is a sampling of torment meted out to Ukrainian Protestants:
    On March 19, 2022, the Russian military, which captured the city of 
Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, arrested [kidnapped] the evangelical 
bishop of the Word of Life Church, Dmytro Bodyu, a US citizen, and held 
him captive for 8 days.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhgLwc2mla0
    The pastor of the Evangelical Church ``Light of the Gospel'' in 
Balaklia, Kharkiv region, Oleksandr Salfetnikov, was kidnapped by 
Russian soldiers on May 17, 2022. He was severely beaten and tortured 
in the commandant's office and for some time was teetering between life 
and death in the intensive care unit.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QNYatj--qIU
    On June 19, 2022, the occupiers kidnapped the pastor of the 
``Source of Life'' Protestant Church, Valentin Zhuravlov, in Melitopol, 
Zaporizhzhia region. Armed Russian Military detained him during an 
interdenominational joint prayer for the end of the war in Ukraine. In 
October 2022, it was reported that Zhuravlov had been released.
    https://www.uscirf.gov/religious-prisoners-conscience/forb-victims-
database/valentin-zhuravlov
    The Melitopol Christian Church in Melitopol was occupied by Russian 
forces who first ransacked the building and later confiscated it under 
the guise of creating a Ministry for Youth on newly occupied territory. 
Pastor Viktor Sergeev was later declared a terrorist by the Russian 
authorities. The church was later used as a regional branch of the 
``Young Guard of United Russia''.
    https://slovoproslovo.info/bili-tak-scho-ridniy-batko-ne-vpiznav-
sina-pastor-iz-melitopolya-rozpoviv-pro-zvirstva-armii-rosii/
    On September 11, 2022, armed Russian forces broke into the 
Evangelical Christian Grace Church in Melitopol during congregational 
prayer. The Russian military recorded the parishioners' ID data, 
fingerprinted and photographed male members of the community, took 
their documents, and accused them of having ``connections with the 
United States.'' After that, the occupiers announced that they would 
``Nationalize'' the church. The occupiers arrested two pastors of the 
congregation. The head pastor of the Church of Evangelical Christians 
Mykhailo Britsyn ended up in prison. He is still detained.
    https://www.uscirf.gov/religious-prisoners-conscience/forb-victims-
database/mykhailo-britsyn
    The deputy head of the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of 
Evangelical Christian Baptists, Serhiy Moroz, stated that the Russian 
military occupied three Baptist prayer houses in the Kherson region. 
Since the military took away all the property and transformed some of 
them into barracks, the faithful do not have the opportunity to pray 
there. As of October 2022, the prayer houses were standing but had been 
looted.

                   THE UKRAINIAN RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE

    A leading sociologist of religion, Jose Casanova, professor at 
Georgetown University, in his writings has amply illustrated how much 
more religious pluralism and respect for freedom of conscience there is 
in Ukraine than in Russia. A key feature of the Ukrainian religious 
landscape is the diversity and network of churches and organizations of 
different faiths. According to the Department of Religions and 
Nationalities of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, at the beginning 
of 2014, 35,646 individual religious communities [churches, houses of 
worship] were officially registered in Ukraine, while only 29,831 
organizations operated in the Russian Federation, which has 
approximately 30 times the territory and four times the population of 
Ukraine. The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious 
Organizations created in 1996 brings together 16 Churches and 
confessions in a unique multi-religious body that represents 90 percent 
of all Ukrainian believers. All religious organizations have equal 
rights in Ukrainian society. None of the Churches ever developed a 
monopoly, never became a State church, with the privileges claimed by 
the Russian Orthodox Church [ROC] in the Russian Federation. In Russia, 
despite the nominal constitutional declaration of freedom of 
conscience, a rigid hierarchical model of state-church relations has 
been created. This has led to restrictions on religious freedom, 
including the banning or juridical delegitimization of certain 
religious communities.

                            THE RUSSIAN WAR

    With the Russian aggression against Ukraine that began in 2014, the 
Catholic Church was hit hard. The chancery of the Donetsk Exarchate of 
the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was ransacked. The bishop was 
forced to move out of his city into the unoccupied part of his diocesan 
territory. The communities of religious sisters were forced to leave. 
Many of the priests, for example, those who had served as chaplains for 
the Ukrainian military, faced death and had to flee. In Crimea, several 
religious groups, flourishing before 2014, have disappeared or left, 
and many of them presumably will never come back to an occupied Crimea, 
even if present hostilities cease. Crimean Tatars, the indigenous 
population of Crimea, mostly Sunni Muslims, are particularly oppressed. 
In Soviet times they were deported from Crimea to Central Asia. They 
were able to return to their ancestral land after perestroika. In 
independent Ukraine, up until the Russian annexation, the Crimean Tatar 
community flourished.
    Since the full-scale invasion of February 2022, it is worth 
repeating, some 500 religious buildings and sites have been destroyed 
in Ukraine. As a result of Russian aggression 3,170 learning 
institutions, 150,000 residential buildings, and 1,216 medical 
facilities were destroyed or seriously damaged. Internationally, some 
conservative Christians view Putin as a protector of Christian values 
and of the Orthodox faith. Can you defend values by killing their 
carriers? Churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church [affiliated with 
the Moscow Patriarchate] have suffered the most from Russian 
aggression--at least 143 have been destroyed or damaged. For example, 
the Sviatohirsk Lavra, a monastic stronghold of Russian Orthodox 
influence in eastern Ukraine, was severely shelled and damaged. A 
plurality of the civilians killed by the invaders in eastern Ukraine 
are baptized members of the Moscow Patriarchate jurisdiction.
    In Mariupol, the city of Mary, the building housing the Caritas 
[Catholic Charities] Foundation with a Greek Catholic chapel was 
destroyed. A tank fired twice at it, killing two employees and five 
members of their families who were inside. Some people were trapped but 
were later rescued. The priest was forced to leave Mariupol, and 
reportedly his house and the nearby chapel were destroyed.

                          OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

    Presently, Russia controls about 17 percent of Ukraine's territory.
    In the beginning, I noted the difference in the religious 
landscapes of Russia and Ukraine. Russian occupational forces do not 
understand the Ukrainian religious situation. ``They are perplexed by 
Ukrainian religious diversity. If something is incomprehensible, it 
causes a traditional imperialistic reaction, it must be destroyed, and 
everything else must be unified,'' states Ihor Kozlovskyy a Ukrainian 
religious scholar who on January 27, 2016 in Donetsk was arrested, 
tortured, and spent 700 days in detention, until he was released as 
part of a prisoner exchange.
    He has described a pattern in the Russian regime's treatment of 
religious organizations in occupied territories.

    1. Military pressure on religious organizations and repression: 
From the seizure of religious buildings to imprisonment and executions.
    2. Control [interrogations of priests and ministers, coercion to 
collaborate.]

    He speaks openly about the arrests, grilling of clergy, and torture 
to ``break, intimidate, or destroy a person.'' Kozlovskyy predicts that 
occupation authorities will follow the pattern established in 2014 in 
the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where Russian authorities deregistered 
``disloyal'' religious communities and banned their activities.
    The occupiers view religious leaders and communities, that are not 
affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, as agents and centers of 
freedom, trust, authority [about 70 percent of Ukrainians say they 
trust church leadership], and Ukrainian identity [mainly Ukrainian 
Greek Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine but it is also 
true of other religious denominations in Ukraine]. Therefore, they are 
under constant attack. Control over religious leaders is a way to 
control the population and legitimize the occupation.
    A Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest from Melitopol whose community is 
under occupation and who was forced to leave testified that the Russian 
FSB and military authorities while interrogating him pressured him to 
divulge what people say during Confession.
     https://ukurier.gov.ua/uk/articles/svyashennik-ugkc-yakogo-
deportuvali-z-melitopolya-/?fbclid=IwAR3d9Y2wj8yBBcMY6VGfeXVE 
dAuhZdtQwXWAMMNdx8wqVTTHDkFnhTvVVEk
    In areas under constant attack, the religious landscape is being 
physically eroded. Religious buildings are being destroyed, and 
communities are disappearing as believers leave their communities en 
masse. For example, the Jewish minority, although not officially 
targeted, has diminished considerably. Tens of thousands of Jews were 
forced to leave, and hundreds have died. American born Rabbi Yaakov Dov 
Bleich, head of a Kyiv synagogue and a prominent leader in the 
Ukrainian Jewish community for over 30 years, believes that the Jewish 
Community will not recover its numbers. The Greek Orthodox Community in 
Mariupol and in the south of the Donetsk region--a unique ethnic 
minority that lived there for hundreds of years--is almost totally 
eradicated. We will hear more from another witness about the Protestant 
communities persecuted by the Russian forces. I can testify that I am 
inspired by the witness of the Ukrainian Protestant denominations, for 
example, by that of my friend, the Evangelical Pastor from Mariupol, 
Hennadiy Mokhnenko.
    As a Ukrainian Greek Catholic archbishop, I will briefly present 
the situation of my Church in some of the exarchates that are currently 
partially occupied.

       THE ODESA EXARCHATE OF THE UKRAINIAN GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH

    The Kherson region is a part of the Exarchate. Seven parishes are 
under occupation, three priests--one married and two monks--were 
detained and interrogated but at the moment can minister.

      THE DONETSK EXARCHATE OF THE UKRAINIAN GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH

    Today, due to the pressure and persecution of the occupation 
administrations, the activity of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, 
in the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia 
regions, is completely impeded [including six parishes in the Donetsk 
and Luhansk regions that have been occupied since 2014]. Some parishes 
stopped functioning because they were in the areas of fierce fighting, 
e.g., Bakhmut.
    The Donetsk deanery--14 out of 14 parishes were forced to stop 
functioning [12 priests forced to leave].
    The Zaporizhzhia deanery--15 out of 22 parishes stopped functioning 
[9 priests left].
    Two priests of the Zaporizhzhia deanery, Ivan Levytskyi and Bohdan 
Heleta, both members of the Redemptorist Order, were imprisoned in 
November 2022, and their whereabouts remain unknown.
    The Kramatorsk deanery--3 of 22 parishes stopped functioning [2 
priests left].

           POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

    In the mind of the Kremlin and in the explicit words of the leader 
of the Russian Church, Patriarch Kirill, the assault on Ukrainians' 
freedom and dignity ``is a metaphysical battle,'' for which the ROC 
provides ideological justification.
    ``Any war must have guns and ideas. In this war, the Kremlin has 
provided the guns, and I believe the Church is providing the ideas,'' 
states Archimandrite Cyril Hovorun, an Orthodox priest and theologian 
who in the 2000's worked in the central offices of the Moscow 
Patriarchate and today is professor at Loyola Marymount University and 
director of the Huffington Ecumenical Institute.
    The Russian Orthodox Church has always been a strong supporter of 
the Russian regime: in tsarist times, after Stalin revived and 
reorganized it in 1943 after 25 years of brutal Soviet persecution 
beginning in 1917, and now under Vladimir Putin, promoting his dream of 
restoring the Russian empire.
    In 2012, Patriarch Kirill obsequiously addressed Vladimir Putin as 
follow ``what were the 2000's then [after Putin came to power]? Through 
a miracle of God, with the active participation of the country's 
leadership, we managed to exit this horrible, systemic crisis. I should 
say it openly as a patriarch who must speak only the truth, without 
regard for the political situation or propaganda. You personally played 
a massive role in correcting this crooked twist of our history.''
    The support of the Russian Orthodox Church has grown as the war has 
progressed, with Patriarch Kirill becoming one of the war's most 
prominent promoters. In his sermons, he repeatedly refers to foreign 
forces as aggressors trying to divide neighboring countries [Russia and 
Ukraine], which he describes as ``One People.'' For him, the aggression 
is a fratricidal struggle.
    "Most of the countries of the world are now under the colossal 
influence of one force, which today, unfortunately, opposes the force 
of our people,'' Kirill said, probably referring to the United States. 
``All of our people today must wake up, wake up, understand that a 
special time has come, on which the historical fate of our people may 
depend.''
    ``We do not want to fight with anyone, Russia has never attacked 
anyone,'' Kirill said in his May 2022 sermon. ``It is surprising when a 
great and powerful country does not attack anyone. It has only been 
defending its borders.''
    Such statements come after the discovery of the war crimes in 
Bucha, the carefully documented violent murders of innocent civilians, 
serial rapes; after the whole world witnessed the barbarity and 
unadulterated evil of the Russian invasion.
    ``The church realizes that if someone, driven by a sense of duty 
and the need to honor his oath, stays loyal to his vocation and dies 
while carrying out his military duty, then he is, without any doubt, 
doing a deed that is equal to sacrifice. He sacrifices himself for 
others, and therefore, we believe that this sacrifice washes away all 
the sins that a person has committed.'' Patriarch Kirill's sermon 
September 25, 2022.
    Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States, His 
Grace Elpidophoros, called this statement a Jihadist-like promise. For 
him the hypocrisy of Kirill is dumbfounding:``Russian mercenaries and 
soldiers murder, rape, kidnap, and loot with his blessing.''
    As the war continues, Patriarch Kirill's cynicism has progressed:
    ``This is how it will be in Ukraine--there will be no trace of the 
schismatics, because they are fulfilling the evil, devilish will, 
destroying Orthodoxy in the Kyivan land.'' [From Patriarch Kirill's 
sermon on January 8, 2023.]
    The Russian aggression against Ukraine is not a plan and the 
determination merely of President Putin promoted by the words of 
Patriarch Kirill. The support, or at least acquiescence, of the Russian 
Church and society is scandalously broad. Not one of the approximately 
400 bishops in Russia has spoken out against the war. The ROC clergy is 
a huge body including more than 40,000 full-time clerics, priests and 
deacons internationally. Only approximately 300--less than 1 percent 
and mostly those outside of Russia--have signed a joint public 
statement criticizing the war. Moreover, 700 university rectors, the 
leaders of 700 top academic institutions, signed a public statement 
supporting the war. Sociological surveys [to be taken with a grain of 
salt in a totalitarian society] indicate that President Putin's 
approval rating in Russia is above 80 percent [as of March 2023] and 
that consistently over the last year approximately 70 percent of the 
Russian population has supported the war. The contribution of the ROC 
to this consensus has been considerable and is damning.
    Russian theologian, Sergei Chapnin, former deputy editor-in-chief 
of the Moscow Patriarchate Publishing House, now at the Orthodox 
Christian Study Center of Fordham University, addressed the hypocrisy 
of the ROC bishops in an open letter [February 6, 2023]. He reproached 
them for being ``embittered castle-builders swilling the cocktail of 
imperial myth, resentment, and unbelievably primitive 
eschatology....You stand by a man [Patriarch Kirill] who justifies war 
crimes and has betrayed the Church. You repeat his words, retell his 
criminal arguments.''
    https://publicorthodoxy.org/2023/02/06/open-letter-russian-bishops/

                            FAITH IN ACTION

    Although this hearing centers on the Russian persecution of 
religion and national identity on the occupied territories and the 
Russian Orthodox Church's ideological role in the aggression against 
Ukraine, I would like to conclude my testimony with a supplementary 
perspective, one that focusses on the hope and faith of many in Ukraine 
and helps explain the fortitude of David's stand against Goliath.
    There are various ways to look at the spiritual life. In the minds 
of many, ``Religion'' is readily measured by institutional and 
structural categories. Yet for a Christian, the Church is not a 
building that can be destroyed or an organization that can be banned. 
It is the Body of Christ--a mystical phenomenon. We cannot speak about 
the Church without mentioning the foundation it is built on--faith in 
the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is at the 
crux of the Church's existence and activity. What we see happening in 
Ukraine brings us back to this core.
    Facing dangers and risking their lives, many Ukrainians today ask 
themselves fundamental existential questions: about life, death, and 
eternity. The specter of death, an ever-present menace, leads to 
burning questions about the essence and criteria of life. People in 
Ukraine are constantly pushed to consider their fate and their faith. 
In Ukraine, there is a palpable belief in eternity. Ukrainians are 
willing to risk their lives, and the fear of death is not stopping 
them. The hope of eternal life overcomes this fear. For many, God has 
overcome death by His solidarity with humanity in its death.
    As the saying goes, in the foxholes there are few atheists. Today, 
Ukraine is one big foxhole. The priests and bishops with whom I 
regularly communicate have shared that during this month's Easter 
services, churches were full despite the fact that civil authorities 
encouraged people to avoid public places since the Russians target 
objects of the civilian infrastructure. Sociological studies show that 
various indicators of religious belief and practice, the level of trust 
regarding churches and religious organizations, and their role in 
society at a time of war are for the most part generally stable or 
rising.
    The Razumkov Centre survey ``War and Church the Religious situation 
in Ukraine 2022'' explains further:
     https://razumkov.org.ua/images/2023/02/13/2022--Religiya--ENGL.pdf
    Measuring spirituality and gauging faith is a precarious exercise. 
Numbers do not necessarily reflect spiritual authenticity. Yet, we can 
observe a certain process of conversion occurring within Ukrainian 
society. War accelerates change. President Zelensky, who was a 
thoroughly secular comedian, has taken on and, in fact, helped bring 
back into the international discourse a language of principles and 
values. His statements often include the language of faith. Soldiers 
and civilians near the frontline always welcome military chaplains. The 
Churches and religious organizations [with exception of the Ukrainian 
Orthodox Church associated with the Moscow Patriarchate] have enjoyed 
high approval ratings in Ukraine. The level of trust in ``the Church'' 
in February-March of this year was at 70 percent [the Army is trusted 
by 96 percent of the population, the President by 83 percent, the 
parliament by 51 percent].
    https://credo.pro/2023/03/341940
    There is another measure of faith--solidarity.
    Ukrainians of all faiths and walks of life pass this test with 
flying colors. ``Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least 
of these my brothers, you did it to me.'' Matthew 25:40.
    After one of my trips to Ukraine, I landed in New York City and was 
struck by a realization sparked by what I encountered in the Big Apple: 
The homeless on the streets. In Ukraine I did not see such destitution 
despite the fact that 14 million people were forced from their homes. 
Poles, Romanians, Germans, Italians, Canadians, Americans, and people 
of scores of countries generously have offered hospitality to over 8 
million Ukrainians. At the same time, Ukrainians of modest means 
managed to lodge and otherwise accommodate some 6 million internally 
displaced persons. One does not see many refugee camps in Ukraine. 
There are no reports of starvation in Ukrainian-controlled territories. 
The network of connections and support within society turned out to be 
stronger than Russian missile attacks, which this past winter were 
geared to freeze Ukrainian urban populations. Yet nobody froze. 
Symbolically, the quickly created community shelters where people could 
get a warm meal, charge their phones, and spend time during the most 
violent attacks when Russians targeted power plants and electrical 
grids came to be called ``hubs of invincibility.''
    Today, mutual sacrifice among Ukrainians is a great spiritual 
testimony. Hundreds of thousands are ready to give their lives and 
volunteer to join the army, and millions are donating funds to support 
the defense of the country. In the first year of the full-scale war, 
more than 33.96 billion hryvnias [one billion USD] have been donated by 
average Ukrainian citizens to the accounts of the National bank and the 
country's three largest funds for military support. There are countless 
smaller funds and ones that focus exclusively on humanitarian aid. The 
culture of giving has become part of the fabric of Ukrainian society. 
Almost everyone is involved in contributing to the purchase of 
vehicles, drones, tourniquets, personal protective gear, and to 
accommodate those who have lost everything.
    In Ukraine, there is faith in action. The four basic principles of 
the Catholic Church's social teaching: [1.] respect for God-given human 
dignity, [2.] solidarity, [3.] subsidiarity, and [4.] the pursuit of 
the common good are manifest in Ukraine's courageous resilience and 
defense. The Church has played a central role in proposing and 
inculcating these principles so strongly embraced during the war 
crisis.
    I started with the testimony of Patriarch Josyf that evil would not 
last forever. It would not if we all continue to confront it resolutely 
and with critical understanding of the dangers this war brings to the 
United States and to the world.
    Josyf Slipyj was indeed right.
    Between 1939 and the mid 1980's, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic 
Church was reduced from almost 3,000 priests to some 300 whose average 
age surpassed the life expectance of males in the Soviet Union. Those 
300 priests were able to minister to only 1 percent of the pre-World 
War II Greek Catholic population. In the natural realm, their cause was 
hopeless. They were destined to die out. Providence had other plans. 
Today, three decades after the fall of the USSR, the UGCC has revived 
and has 3,000 priests again. Some of them, like the Redemptorists from 
Berdyansk, Fathers Ivan and Bohdan, are called to be martyrs. Not 
necessarily to die or be killed, but to witness. The word ``Martyr'' 
derives from the Greek martyria, which means witness--to stand 
steadfastly for principles and to be ready to sacrifice for them.
    Because evil will not last forever.
    Forty years ago, the Helsinki Commission's work contributed to the 
freedom of the Ukrainian Greek Catholics and to the liberation of many 
other people of faith who were subject to Soviet communist oppression. 
These efforts need to be remembered and lauded. They need to continue 
and intensify in the circumstances of the Russian war against Ukraine 
and against the international order of democracy, justice, and freedom.
    It is essential to monitor closely the consequences of the Russian 
invasion. The crimes against religious liberty must be identified, 
fully investigated, and condemned. Concerted effort needs to be exerted 
to ensure the religious and general freedoms of the people of Ukraine.
    Ultimately, they are giving their lives also for ours.

                                Article

      Clergymen or Spies? Churches Become Tools of War in Ukraine

    Ukrainian officials are cracking down on a branch of the Russian 
Orthodox Church that they describe as a subversive force doing the 
Kremlin's bidding.

                          By Andrew E. Kramer

    Dec. 31, 2022.

    KYIV, Ukraine--Andriy Pavlenko, an Orthodox church abbot in eastern 
Ukraine, seemed to be on a selfless spiritual mission. When war came, 
he remained with his flock and even visited a hospital to pray with 
wounded soldiers.
    In fact, according to court records, Mr. Pavlenko was working 
actively to kill Ukrainian soldiers and Ukrainian activists, including 
a priest from a rival Orthodox church in his city, Sievierodonetsk.
    ``In the north, there are about 500 of them, with a mortar platoon, 
five armored personnel carriers and three tanks,'' Mr. Pavlenko wrote 
to a Russian officer in March, as the Russian Army was hammering 
Sievierodonetsk and areas around it with artillery.
    ``He needs to be killed,'' he wrote of the rival priest, according 
to evidence introduced at his trial in a Ukrainian court, showing he 
had sentlists to the Russian Army of people to round up once the city 
was occupied. Mr. Pavlenko was convicted as a spy this month and then 
traded with Russia in a prisoner exchange.
    Andriy Pavlenko, who had been working as an Orthodox church abbot 
in eastern Ukraine, was convicted as a spy this month.
    His was hardly an isolated case. In the past month, the authorities 
have arrested or publicly identified as suspects more than 30 clergymen 
and nuns of the Ukrainian arm of the Russian Orthodox Church.
    To the Ukrainian security services, the Russian-aligned church, one 
of the country's two major Orthodox Churches, poses a uniquely 
subversive threat--a widely trusted institution that is not only an 
incubator of pro-Russia sentiment but is also infiltrated by priests, 
monks and nuns who have aided Russia in the war.
    Recent months have brought a quick succession of searches of 
churches and monasteries, and decrees and laws restricting the activity 
of the Russian-aligned church, confusingly named the Ukrainian Orthodox 
Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. On Tuesday, Ukraine's Supreme Court 
upheld a 2018 law that requires truthful naming of religious 
organizations if they are affiliated with a country at war with 
Ukraine--a law tailored to force the church to call itself Russian.
    President Volodymyr Zelensky this month asked Parliament to ban any 
church that answers to Russia, though no details have been proposed 
yet, so it remains unclear how that would work. The Ukrainian 
authorities plan to revoke the Russian church's lease on two revered 
houses of worship--the Holy Dormition Cathedral and the Refectory 
Church--in the Monastery of the Caves complex in Kyiv, a thousand-year-
old catacomb cradling the mummies of the holiest saints in Slavic 
Orthodoxy.
    The Ukrainian crackdown on the Russian church has elicited howls of 
protest from both the church and the Russian government, which call it 
an assault on religious freedom. On Tuesday, Metropolitan Pavlo Lebed, 
the head of the Russian-aligned church at the Monastery of the Caves, 
appealed to Mr. Zelensky in a video.
    ``Do you want to take away faith in people, take away the last 
hope?'' He said. ``Do not tell us which church to go to.''
    Mr. Zelensky, who is Jewish, and Ukrainian law enforcement agencies 
say the crackdown has nothing to do with religious freedom, which they 
argue does not extend to espionage, sedition, sabotage or treason.
    For centuries, Ukraine's Orthodox churches were under the Russian 
church, whose leadership in Moscow wholeheartedly supports President 
Vladimir V. Putin's war. In recent years, many priests and parishes, 
and millions of the faithful, have switched allegiances to the 
independent new Orthodox Church of Ukraine, a migration accelerated by 
the war. The two churches are virtually identical in liturgy; what 
separates them are politics and nationalism.
    Early in December, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church called the 
accusations of collaboration between its clergy and Russia ``unproven 
and groundless.''
    The Russian-aligned church, which still represents millions of 
Ukrainians, insists that it cut ties with its Russian hierarchy at the 
onset of the war. The independent Ukrainian church calls that break in 
sincere and flatly condemns its counterpart for not making a real break 
with Moscow.
    ``The Russian Orthodox Church is in reality a tool of Russian 
aggression,'' Archbishop Yevstratiy, a spokesman for the Orthodox 
Church of Ukraine, said in an interview in the St. Michael's Golden 
Domed Monastery in Kyiv.
    Outside military analysts have seen reason for Ukraine's concern. 
The church of the Moscow Patriarchate ``materially supported Russia's 
annexation of Crimea and the invasion of Eastern Ukraine,'' the 
Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based analytical group, wrote in 
a research note on the role of the Russian-affiliated church in the 
war.
    Evidence of churches being treated as instruments of Russian aims 
is commonplace. Searches have turned up wads of cash, flags of the 
former Russian client states in eastern Ukraine and pamphlets printed 
by the Russian Army for distribution in occupied territories, the 
Security Service of Ukraine, the domestic intelligence agency, has said 
in statements.
    The archimandrite, or top religious official, of the Assumption 
Cathedral in Kherson in southern Ukraine attended a ceremony in the 
Kremlin in which Russia claimed to annex the Kherson province as part 
of Russia.
    During the 8-month Russian occupation of Kherson city, Moscow's 
forces cracked down on private charities in an effort to steer the 
population to Russian humanitarian aid programs, which required 
registration with occupation authorities. It was a policy of forcing 
dependence on Russia. When a priest nonetheless continued operating a 
soup kitchen, the Russian-aligned church excommunicated him.
    Ukrainian officials say that priests and monks--or people posing as 
them--who are also spies have caused problems for Ukraine's military. 
At one monastery north of Kyiv this month, the authorities said they 
found six men in monks' robes--all of whom were athletically built, 
spoke Russian but no Ukrainian, and had no documents. The police 
arrested the men and are investigating whether they are spies.
    ``Being a priest is ideal cover for any intelligence agent,'' said 
a Ukrainian intelligence official knowledgeable about the investigation 
of the Russian-aligned church, but who was not authorized to speak 
publicly. ``People are ready to trust you, because you are a priest.''
    For his part, Mr. Pavlenko, the abbot who was later convicted of 
espionage, took to visiting wounded Ukrainian soldiers at a hospital, 
according to Pavlo Dubyna, a former resident of the town and 
acquaintance of Mr. Pavlenko. After such visits, he would walk in the 
street and speak on his cellphone, Mr. Dubyna said.
    Ukrainian authorities arrested the priest in April, when the 
Russian military was still bombarding Sievierodonetsk, which it 
captured in June. In an act they say proved Mr. Pavlenko's culpability, 
Moscow accepted the priest in a prisoner swap for an American held by 
Russia, Suedi Murekezi, an Air Force veteran who had been living in 
southern Ukraine before the war.
    Evidence from the trial opened a window into the priest's blending 
of espionage and vendetta against priests in the independent Ukrainian 
Church, which before the war had been winning away followers from the 
Russian church. Prosecutors presented what they said were short 
descriptions of the rival clergy, sent to the Russian Army by Mr. 
Pavlenko.
    ``The spiritual guide for the nationalist brigades and the 
Ukrainian Army in the Luhansk region,'' said a March 15 note that said 
the priest in question should be killed.
    Another message described another priest in the Ukrainian church 
whose brother was fighting in the war and said, ``I think we need to 
put an end to him too, as he is not our guy.''
    Maria Varenikova contributed reporting.

                                Article

How the Russian Orthodox Church is Helping Drive Putin's War in Ukraine

                                 IDEAS

    BY GERALDINE FAGAN APRIL 15, 2022 7:00 AM EDT
    Fagan is the author of Believing in Russia--Religious Policy after 
Communism

    To Vladimir Putin, Orthodox Christianity is a tool for asserting 
Moscow's rights over sovereign Ukraine. In his February televised 
address announcing the recent invasion of Ukraine, he argued the 
inhabitants of that``ancient Russian land'' were Orthodox from time 
immemorial, and now faced persecution from an illegitimate regime in 
Kyiv.
    Led by Patriarch Kirill, the Russian Orthodox Church is one of the 
most tangible cultural bonds between Russia and Ukraine. The gilded 
domes of Kyiv's Monastery of the Caves and St. Sophia Cathedral have 
beckoned pilgrims from across both lands for nigh on a thousand years.
    With religious rhetoric, Putin taps into a long tradition that 
imagines a Greater Russia extending across present-day Ukraine and 
Belarus, in a combined territory known as Holy Rus'. Nostalgic for 
empire, this sees the spiritual unity of the three nations as key to 
Russia's earthly power as an exceptional civilization. Encouraged by 
Putin's ``special operation,'' Russian Orthodox nationalists are 
excitedly recalling the prophecy of a twentieth-century saint from 
Chernihiv, now one of Ukraine's beleaguered cities. ``Just as the One 
Lord God is the indivisible Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit,'' this monk fortold, ``so Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus together 
are Holy Rus' and cannot be separated.''
    Putin is not the first modern Moscow ruler to co-opt this idea in 
seeking to consolidate secular power. During the darkest hours of World 
War Two, Stalin reinstated the Russian Orthodox Church--having almost 
bled it dry--and replaced the communist Internationale with a new 
national anthem. Its lyrics asserted that the Soviet Union was 
``unbreakable, welded together forever by Great Rus'.''
    Around 2007 the Kremlin further advanced the allied concept of 
Russky Mir, or the Russian World, initially a soft power project aimed 
at promoting Russian culture worldwide and likened by Patriarch Kirill 
to the British Commonwealth. Putin, however--unsettled by mass protests 
against his authoritarian regime in 2011-12 as well as those that 
toppled his vassal in Ukraine in 2013-14--has since twisted both Holy 
Rus' and the Russian World to serve a more violent agenda.
    Outsized emphasis now goes to Russia's tradition of warrior saints. 
It was by remarkable coincidence, Putin told thousands of flag-waving 
supporters at a recent Moscow stadium rally, that the military 
operation in Ukraine commenced on the birthday of Saint Theodore 
Ushakov, an eighteenth-century Russian naval commander famed for never 
losing a single battle. ``He once said, `This threat will serve to 
glorify Russia,' '' Putin enthused. ``That was the case then, is now, 
and ever shall be!''
    Cast aside is an alternative Christian holy tradition of defiant 
passive resistance, exemplified by the first saints to be canonized in 
medieval Rus', the Kyiv princes Boris and Gleb, who accepted martyrdom 
at the hands of their brother. ``They gave up without a fight,'' Putin 
once remarked in disgust. ``This cannot be an example for us.'' With 
the attack on Kyiv's current ruler, even small acts of Christian 
pacifism by Russians are quashed. A remote village priest was fined 
hundreds of dollars for publicly refusing to support the war and thus 
``call black--white, evil--good.'' A young woman was detained outside 
Moscow's main Orthodox cathedral for holding up a simple sign bearing 
the biblical commandment, ``Thou shallt not kill.''
    In this Putin can count on the backing of a body of jingoistic 
opinion now dominating the Church hierarchy. Flanked by medal-laden 
Defense Minister Shoigu at the 2020 consecration of a cavernous black 
and green military cathedral, Patriarch Kirill prayed that Russia's 
armed forces would never suffer defeat. This March, on the very same 
spot where Pussy Riot made their infamous protest against cozy Church-
Kremlin ties a decade ago, the Patriarch presented an icon to the head 
of Russia's National Guard--the same unit now reportedly suffering 
heavy losses in Ukraine--in the hope that this would``inspire new 
recruits taking their oath.''
    Kirill is not an outlier in his support for the war, as no senior 
cleric inside Russia has expressed dissent. ``Everything the president 
does is right,'' one archbishop told local news agency Regnum in late 
March. ``Speaking as a monarchist, I would personally place a crown 
upon Putin's head if God granted the opportunity.'' Similar fervor is 
found among respected Moscow parish priests. ``Russian peacekeepers are 
conducting a special operation in order to hold Nuremberg trials 
against the whole of Europe,'' one preached during a recent sermon, as 
he denied reports of civilian casualties. ``What is the Westable to 
produce? Only ISIS and neofascism.''
    This priest concluded his sermon with the hope that Kazakhstan, 
Moldova, and Georgia would be reunited with Russia, in addition to 
Ukraine. If Putin is looking to burnish his legacy as gatherer of 
historical Russian lands, there is a problem. The inhabitants of 
Ukraine are not interested in being ``liberated'' by his operation to 
``de-Nazify'' their country. ``The Russian World has arrived!'' One 
woman shouted sarcastically as she filmed invading troops facing off 
against a crowd of angry locals just 20 miles from Ukraine's eastern 
border with Russia. ``We are not waiting for you, so get out of here!'' 
Within hours of the first missile strikes on February 24, even the the 
Orthodox Church in Ukraine that is under the Patriarch of Moscow turned 
indignantly to Putin. ``We ask that you stop this fratricidal war 
immediately,'' Metropolitan Onuphry implored. ``Such a war has 
justification before neither God nor man.''
    Putin's is thus a spiritual, as well as military, misadventure. 
Similar to Stalin' spivot at the lowest point in World War Two, his 
reliance upon the Orthodox Church over the last decade smacks of 
desperation. It hardly stems from personal commitment to the faith: 
while projected as a believer from the beginning of his presidency, for 
more than a decade Putin largely rebuffed the Church's policy goals--
such as mandatory classes on Orthodoxy in public schools--until his 
need for autocratic symbolism prevailed after his return to the 
presidency in 2011-12. Throughout his rule he has consistently spoken 
and behaved at odds with normative Orthodox Christian behavior, such as 
by claiming that choice of faith is unimportant since all religious 
categories are human invention, or when awkwardly greeting Patriarch 
Kirill with the gestures reserved for venerating a sacred relic or 
icon.
    Bellicose rhetoric from Orthodox clerics does resonate with some 
devout Russians, but this is a narrow swath of the population. While a 
2019 national poll found that over 60 percent of Russians older than 25 
identify as Orthodox, those attentive to institutional Church life--
such as by attending Easter worship services--amount to only a few 
percent. The same poll found a precipitous drop in those identifying as 
Orthodox among the 18-24 age group--just 23 percent.
    This contrasts starkly with Ukraine, where a quarter of the 
population attends Easter services and a majority of 18-24 year-olds 
define as believers. Swift and total alienation of millions of 
Ukrainian Orthodox is a colossal price for Patriarch Kirill to pay for 
loyalty to Putin, Ukraine being where a third of his parishes and 
monasteries are located. The Patriarch's international standing is also 
shot, as Orthodox abroad not gagged by the Kremlin's new ban on 
criticism of the Russian armed forces have condemned the war--including 
Kirill's own bishops in Estonia and Lithuania--along with Pope Francis 
and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Instead of a Russian World, the 
Moscow Patriarch may soon find his authority stopping at the borders of 
the Russian Federation.
    The Church's dwindling reach thus means that Putin cannot use it to 
restore the age-old dream of an expanded Holy Rus'. Approaching 70, 
however, Russia's president has no long-term ambition to consolidate 
Orthodox spirituality--only his personal grip on power for however many 
more years God grants him.

                    CONTACT US AT [email protected].

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