[Joint House and Senate Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
RUSSIA'S PERSECUTION OF UKRAINIAN CHRISTIANS
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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
__________
JULY 24, 2024
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Printed for the use of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in
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Available via www.csce.gov
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
56-495 PDF WASHINGTON : 2024
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COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION
U.S. HOUSE U.S SENATE
JOE WILSON, South Carolina Chairman BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland Co-
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee Ranking Chairman
Member
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi
EMANUEL CLEAVER II, Missouri Ranking Member
RUBEN GALLEGO, Arizona RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
MICHAEL LAWLER, New York TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire
MARC A. VEASEY, Texas TINA SMITH, Minnesota
THOM TILLIS, North Carolina
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Department of State - Erin Barclay
Department of Defense - Celeste Wallander
Department of Commerce - Don Graves
C O N T E N T S
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Page
COMMISSIONERS
Hon. Joe Wilson, Chairman, from South Carolina................... 1
Hon. Marc A. Veasey, from Texas.................................. 2
Hon. Roger Wicker, Ranking Member, from Tennessee................ 10
OTHER MEMBER PRESENT
Hon. Wiley Nickel, from North Carolina........................... 20
WITNESSES
Catherine Wanner, Professor, Pennsylvania State University....... 3
Mark Sergeev, Ukrainian pastor................................... 5
Steven E. Moore, Founder, Ukraine Freedom Project................ 7
RUSSIA'S PERSECUTION OF UKRAINIAN CHRISTIANS
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COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN
EUROPE,
U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Wednesday, July 24, 2024.
The hearing was held from 10:12 a.m. to 11:37 a.m., Room
210, Cannon House Office Building, Representative Joe Wilson
[R-SC], Chairman, Commission for Security and Cooperation in
Europe, presiding.
Committee Members Present: Representative Joe Wilson [R-
SC], Chairman; Senator Roger Wicker [R-MS], Ranking Member;
Representative Marc Veasey [D-TX]; Representative Robert B.
Aderholt [R-AL].
Other Members Present: Representative Andy Harris [R-MD];
Representative Wiley Nickel [D-NC]; Representative Mariannette
Miller-Meeks [R-IA]; Representative Jim Costa [D-CA].
Witnesses: Steven E. Moore, Founder, Ukraine Freedom
Project; Mark Sergeev, Ukrainian pastor; Catherine Wanner,
Professor, Pennsylvania State University.
OPENING STATEMENT OF JOE WILSON, CHAIRMAN, U.S. HOUSE, FROM
SOUTH CAROLINA
Chairman Wilson: [Sounds gavel.] Ladies and gentlemen, good
morning, friends of Ukraine and friends of Christians in
Ukraine. The Commission will come to order. Good morning to all
of you who have joined us today.
Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge our members.
Congressman Marc Veasey of Texas is here. We also has an
honorary member of Congress, and that is Chaplain Margaret
Kibben. She is here, the chaplain of the House. Therefore,
Chaplain, thank you. Please come up front, Mademoiselle.
Therefore, we are so fortunate to have Chaplain Kibben to be
here.
The Helsinki Commission has long seen freedom of religion
or belief as a priority. Ukraine is a living example.
Ukrainians of all backgrounds and creeds are bravely working
together for the existence of their country and defense of
their homeland, and ultimately the defense of freedom and
democracy worldwide. What we sadly can see, is war criminal
Putin is murderously attempting to recreate the failed Soviet
empire to benefit the oligarchs, oppressing the Russians first
and then invading liberated republics. I just left breakfast
for the Central Asian republics with the ambassador from
Kazakhstan, and it can be identified that when--if he is going
to recreate the Soviet Union, that includes the Central Asian
republics too. It does not stop at Ukraine. It does not stop in
Georgia, but it does not stop in Moldova. We know that it
continues. Therefore, all of us need to be working together for
peace and stability, and peace through strength.
Religious freedom is respected and protected. It is one of
the core values Ukraine fights for. Meanwhile, it is illegal in
Russia to evangelize, as expressing religion that is not
connected to the state is a threat to the facade that war
criminal Putin depends on to stay in power. Christians in
Ukraine, particularly Evangelical Christians, have--we will
learn more about today been the target of horrific torture and
abuse by the Putin forces. Evangelicals are seen by the Kremlin
as being pro-American and are specifically sought out for
kidnapping and torture. Ukraine, some of which has been
occupied for decades since the 2014 invasion, which should not
be forgotten. Ten thousand or more Ukrainians were killed in
2014, and sadly the world thought this would pass. No, it does
not; it continues. It is not safe for Christians. We will learn
today because of war criminal Putin and his murderers and
rapists that things are not safe. It is not safe for anyone who
refuses to submit to the demands of the occupiers. Those who
serve a higher power present a real challenge for the war
criminal Putin, both in Russia and in occupied Ukraine, as he
and the delusional enablers worship the failed Soviet empire.
I look forward to hearing about this from our witnesses, in
addition to more about the Ukrainian religious landscape and
how the United States can support our Ukrainian friends living
under Putin's occupation. Their words will speak for
themselves. Their testimonies are graphic and incredibly
disturbing.
We are very grateful we have been joined by Dr. Andy Harris
from Maryland, and so we appreciate his service.
We have, first, Dr. Catherine Wanner, who is a professor of
history, anthropology, and religious studies at Penn State.
Additionally, we have--speaking of his experiences and
church leadership in occupied Ukraine Mark Sergeev--[changes
pronunciation]--Sergeev. Sergeev, hear, hear. I should know
because I am really grateful that the church I go to, First
Presbyterian Church, has been associated with the pastor's
church and with Micah Rea in particular. We appreciate that the
pastors actually visited South Carolina, and we always
welcome--as Chaplain Kibben knows, we welcome chaplains to
South Carolina.
Finally, we have the former congressional chief of staff of
Peter Roskam--Peter, a superhero of all things from Illinois--
and is now the founder of the Ukraine Freedom Project, Steven
E. Moore.
With this, I will turn to any of the commissioners,
particularly Marc Veasey, for any opening remarks.
STATEMENT OF MARC A. VEASEY, U.S. HOUSE, FROM TEXAS
Representative Veasey: Mr. Chairman, thank you very much,
and great to be here today. I want to appreciate--want to give
my appreciation to the panelists--our guests for being here
today to come in, answer some questions, and talk with us about
the issues around religion that are happening right now in
Ukraine.
I think particularly having this discussion that we are
doing today with the visit that we are having from Prime
Minister Netanyahu, so much of the conflict in that region goes
back to the 19th century, much of it based on religion and lots
of other sort of, you know, myths and stereotypes and tropes
that people have of one another. Trying to figure out how you
can live peacefully and at the same time deal with all of these
issues, I think, is very timely, that we are having it today.
Therefore, I want to thank each and every one of you for
being here, and I want to thank the Chairman for putting this
together. I think this is going to be an interesting discussion
and a lot to learn, and hopefully we will have more to share
with the American public about what is happening in Ukraine
around this topic of Ukrainian Christians as the day
progresses. Therefore, I appreciate you.
Mr. Chairman?
Chairman Wilson: Thank you very much, Congressman Veasey. I
really appreciate Congressman Veasey shows bipartisanship of us
working together.
Additionally, we have Wiley Nickel. Congressman Nickel's
with us today, and he dressed up in a khaki suit, so--
[laughter]--some people really make us look good. [Laughter.]
We will begin with Dr. Catherine Wanner.
TESTIMONY OF CATHERINE WANNER, PROFESSOR, PENNSYLVANIA STATE
UNIVERSITY
Ms. Wanner: [Off mic.] Thank you for the invitation to be
here. I am honored to testify at this hearing.
There are more Evangelicals in Ukraine than there--[comes
on mic]--are in any other country in Europe. They include
Baptists, Evangelical Christians, Pentecostals, as well as
other Protestants.
Many factors have contributed to this concentration of
Protestant believers in Ukraine, but surely the emergence of
tolerance, religious diversity, and religious pluralism as
governing principles are key among them. This has created a
vibrant religious marketplace in which a plethora of religious
groups compete for members, and in which religious symbolism
and practice are broadly accepted in public institutions and in
public space.
When Ukrainian territories fell under Russian occupation in
2014, the persecution of minority religious communities
followed. Evangelicals were especially targeted. I will discuss
why Evangelicals incur the wrath of Russian ruling authorities
and specifically what the consequences have been.
The repression of Evangelicals in the occupied territories
of Ukraine has been so fierce because the established religious
pluralism that allowed Protestant communities to thrive in
Ukraine clashes with the imposition of the Russian world
ideology that comes with Russian rule. The Russian world posits
that eastern Slavs are part of a single spiritual and
historical civilizational space that includes Russians,
Ukrainians, Belarussians, and sometimes even Moldova and
Kazakhstan. Increasingly, it really brings in anyone who
recognizes the importance of traditional values and the Russian
Orthodox Church as their protector.
However, the key point is that there is no place for
Protestants in the Russian world. They are apostates to their
faith and traitors to their nation precisely because they have
abandoned Orthodoxy. The Russian world ideology justifies the
repression of religious minorities and privileges Russian
Orthodoxy as a state-protected guardian of these traditional
values, public morality, and social and political order.
The second reason Evangelicals have been targeted is that
Baptists and Evangelical Christians have long been demonized --
because of the negative associations that Protestantism carries
with the United States. Clergy and active believers are subject
to charges of being foreign agents or American spies.
The 2012 foreign agent law has been repeatedly used in
Russia and now in the occupied territories to crack down on
civil society organizations, to silence dissent, and to jail
even potential members of opposition. This law is used to
restrict religious freedom, freedom of speech, and freedom of
assembly. It targets religious leaders, members of NGOs, human
rights activists, and independent journalists, among others, by
mandating complicated and often contradictory reporting and
registration requirements. Noncompliance results in fines,
jails, or closure of the organization.
As a result, occupation by Russian forces slips easily and
quickly into religious repression, especially of Evangelicals,
because the Russian state implements entirely different
policies toward non-Russian Orthodox Church-affiliated
religious communities than the Ukrainian state does. The
repressive treatment Evangelicals received in the USSR, and to
a degree continue to experience in Russia, is even more brutal
and violent in the Russian-controlled occupied territories of
Ukraine.
Therefore, let us consider the consequences. Viewed as
apostates to their native Orthodox faith, traitors to their
nation, and foreign agents who undermine anti-Western Orthodox
conservativism, Evangelicals have been subject to searches,
abductions, interrogations, unlawful detainment, and torture.
They have had their property confiscated, their families
threatened, and been subject to physical violence. Pastors are
pressured to reaffiliate to religious organizations in Russia.
Since 2022, over 40 clergy have faced reprisals and five have
been killed. Residents of eight Ukrainian regions under
occupation report religious persecution and other violations of
religious freedom. In Zaporizhzhia, there are at least 47
cases; Kherson, 20; Lugansk, 13; Donetsk, 11; and the list goes
on.
Russian Federal Law 114--also known as the Yarovaya law--
passed in 2016, is too broad to leave Evangelicals vulnerable
to charges of extremism or illegal missionary activities. As a
result, many Evangelicals were forced to flee the occupied
territories. By December 2023, not even two years into the war,
over 630 churches and religious buildings had been destroyed or
damaged. One-third, or at least 206, were Protestant. In
occupied Donetsk, there were at least 146 documented cases of
damaged or destroyed religious buildings; in Lugansk, at least
83; Kherson, 78; and in Zaporizhzhia, at least 51. Other
religious buildings were looted and converted to arsenals,
police headquarters, and United Russia offices.
Only a few Protestant churches are open in the occupied
Donetsk region. There are parts of Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia
regions where not a single Protestant church remains opened. We
will hear more about Melitopol, a city in southern Ukraine,
that at one point had more Protestant prayer houses than
Orthodox churches prior to 2022, and today not a single
Protestant church remains.
There is little to suggest that such repressive measures
against Evangelicals will cease. In fact, the reverse is
likely. As harsh as restrictions are on Evangelical communities
in Russia proper, they are far worse in occupied Ukraine.
Whereas previously most Evangelicals espoused an Anabaptist
pacifism and performed alternative military service, now,
having declared this a just war, many Evangelicals serve in the
Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Previous networks of cooperation and association of all
kinds--missionary, humanitarian, and educational--that united
Russian and Ukrainian Evangelicals in common endeavors have
been shattered as a result of this war. This is true for nearly
all religious associations and networks, regardless of
confession, that linked Russian and Ukrainian co-believers.
In sum, the occupation of Ukrainian territories has ushered
in religious repression of Evangelicals because the Russian
state has distinct policies for non-Russian Orthodox Church
religious communities. This is a longstanding practice and is
unlikely to change under the current Russian leadership. The
goal of democratizing Ukraine and its allies is to ensure that
religious freedom, tolerance, and pluralism are not additional
casualties of this war. Russia and its president, Vladimir
Putin, must be held accountable for their numerous war crimes
in Ukraine so that they will be deterred from further attempts
to use religion to inspire violence and to justify repression
of religious minorities as they are doing in the occupied
territories of Ukraine.
Thank you.
Chairman Wilson: Thank you very much, Dr. Wanner. Both
Congressman Veasey and I were so impressed to find out the
level of--the number of Evangelical churches in Ukraine. That
is not widely known. Therefore, this--the American people need
to know this.
With that in mind, this hearing is so important we have
been joined by Mariannette Miller-Meeks, the congresswoman from
Iowa. Then I am very grateful to Congressman Jim Costa--again,
bipartisan--from California and Congressman Robert Aderholt
from Alabama. Therefore, again, it is bipartisan love and
appreciation of the people of Ukraine.
With that, we now proceed to Pastor Mark Sergeev of the New
Generation Church, which is associated with the Baptist Church.
TESTIMONY OF MARK SERGEEV, UKRAINIAN PASTOR
Mr. Sergeev: It is a great honor for me to speak at the
Helsinki Commission. The work of the Commission is well-known
in Ukraine. I am grateful for the work of Commission does to
help Ukraine fight for freedom.
Last week, I was at the frontline in Chasiv Yar. My role is
a chaplain and I work for soldiers. The battles are horrible.
The men and women fighting for Ukraine need spiritual guidance
and emotional care, and I am proud to guide and help them and
pray sometimes in difficult situations.
Every Ukrainian soldier at the front is very thankful for
American weapons. They fire Javelins all day and fall asleep to
the sound of HIMARS firing on the Russian positions, and the
soldiers sleep well. I want to say that the same Iran drones
that attack Kyiv every night, attack Israel the same. However,
American technologies keep us both in safety.
My journey from Ukraine front to speak today started four
generations ago. I am a fifth generation Evangelical Christian.
My grand grandfather was killed by Stalin because he was a
Christian. My grandparents and my parents were always
Evangelical Christians. They have been persecuted, and they
were hiding their faith because they are afraid for their
lives.
I was born in Ukraine, in Melitopol city. It is in the Azov
Sea. We call it the gates to Crimea. I was born in a free
country. My father was a senior pastor of Melitopol Christian
Church. It was the largest church in the area, and some
American visitors often compare us like Joel Osteen's Lakewood
Church from Houston. We have a big stage, a big worship team,
and we minister to 1,500 people every Sunday. We have 400 kids
who attended Sunday school. We were a spiritual home to
hundreds of Ukrainian families. Before the war started in
Ukraine, we had this kind of dream. It is close to the American
dream, to live a great life. However, Putin does not respond by
peaceful means.
In February 2022, Russian tanks got inside of my city. They
are rolling inside of the city. I watched this from the windows
of my church. Two weeks later, somebody knocked on the door in
my house, wake me up, and that was the soldiers of Russian
Rosgvardia. Maybe you heard about it somewhere in the news.
They take me outside and put me on the ground. I was only in my
underwear at that moment. They woke up my oldest son, he is
nine years old at that moment, with an AK-47 gun in the face.
You know, Russians are making a weapon of religion, and
they are trying to make my father use the role of spiritual
leader for a community to praise their invasions of our city.
They told to my father: You have 72 hours to record a video in
front of the church building that this is already Russian
territory and Putin is our president, and just relax and wait.
Then they gave a couple of hours to give a list of every
businessman who supports the Evangelical churches. You know,
they love money and always do this. They told him that every
day if you waited, they would just cut off the fingers on your
hand.
It is God's miracle that they did not come back with their
knives, but they took off--they took the building. We have this
big, long, 40-foot-long cross in the front of the building.
They cut off this cross and put the Russian flag right now.
Therefore, now this big auditorium that was used before for
praising God and worshiping God, now they are using like a
concert hall for Russian military concerts and celebrating
Russian holidays. I am lucky to escape. I am here right now and
still alive--a miracle that I am here alive, because I have
been in crazy moments. I saw so many civilian--killing people,
dead people. My kids saw everything. If you ask me how it
looked like the picture, kind of very old movie about the
Second World War, if Private Ryan--the picture looked like the
same. Finally, we get out of it. It is a miracle.
However, before the war started, in Melitopol--it is not a
big city, but we have 40 Evangelical churches in Melitopol.
Today, there are no more--not any kind of churches anymore.
Therefore, the only churches left are those who are loyal to
Moscow rather than God. My parents lived through the Soviet
Union. They say conditions today in Russian-occupied Ukraine
are worse for believers than they were in Soviet times. I
encourage the Commission to go to RussiaTorturesChristians.org,
where you can see videos from my church how they looked like
before the war, and security cameras show Russians breaking
into our churches in the dead of the night, and Russian TV
footage of Melitopol Christian church being used for Russian
patriarch ceremonies.
I will close with the story of my friend Lena. She is a
part of my church. She is a small group leader. Two months ago,
Russian soldiers came into her house and took her because, you
know, when they shut down every church in Melitopol, Christians
go under the ground to worship God, and they get together in
small groups. Now she is in prison in Donetsk because she is
just a Christian leader because she just believed in God. Two
months ago, yes, they take--they take her. Now they give her
seven years because she is a Christian and she believe in God.
Last night I fortunately had a conversation with one
American Christian leader, and he told me that he is concerned
about the Ukrainian government persecuting Christians.
Fortunately, I was able to have him understand the truth, that
he was hearing the Russian propaganda. The real truth is that
Russia is torturing, oppressing, and sometimes murdering
Ukrainian Christians in my city and across occupied Ukraine,
simply for being Christian. I am only one voice, and the voices
against mine are powerful. However, I am grateful to the
Commission for giving me a voice, and power, and helping
Americans and the whole world know the truth of Russia's
terrible oppression of Ukrainian believers. Thank you very
much, and may God bless you all. May God bless America.
Chairman Wilson: Thank you so much, Pastor Sergeev. We just
appreciate--again, we appreciate your visit to South Carolina
and just, indeed, Micah is such a champion for you. Indeed,
again, the significance of this hearing. I am very grateful
that we have been joined by Senator Roger Wicker of
Mississippi. The good news is that as the House members run off
to vote, we have got somebody who is very capable to keep the
hearing going. Therefore, with this, he is appreciated for so
many different reasons, all right?
Therefore, I want to now recognize Steven Moore.
TESTIMONY OF STEVEN E. MOORE, FOUNDER, UKRAINE FREEDOM PROJECT
Mr. Moore: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for the honor
of testifying before this Commission today. As you so
graciously mentioned, I was once a chief of staff to a member
of leadership here in the House of Representatives.
Chairman Wilson: Hey, say it. Peter Roskam.
Mr. Moore: Yes, Peter Roskam.
Chairman Wilson: A dear friend.
Mr. Moore: Anyone know Peter Roskam? [Laughter.]
Chairman Wilson: Hey, a friend of Senator Wicker here.
Mr. Moore: Yes. Therefore, he--and he still has a lot of
friends here in the House of Representatives. Therefore, I was
honored to be his chief of staff for seven years, and so as
much time as I have spent in Congress, this is my first time on
this side of the dais, in this position right here. Therefore,
it is particularly an honor for me to do this. As a former
staffer, I want to compliment the knowledge and professionalism
of the staff of the Helsinki Commission. The work of the
Helsinki Commission is quite respected in Ukraine, and it is
largely because of the personal relationships the staff has
developed with people over there. Therefore, they have been
great to work with.
Therefore, five days after Russia's full-scale invasion, I
went to Ukraine to try to help my Ukrainian friends get to
safety and provide humanitarian goods. I created the Ukraine
Freedom Project and used that as a vehicle to bring supplies to
Kyiv when that city was surrounded on three sides by Russians.
We got food to Kharkiv while it was under siege. I was one of
the first wave of people at Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital
earlier this month when it was bombed.
In my two and a half years living in Ukraine at war, I have
seen and heard many things that nobody should. Even so, it is
only a fraction of what the Ukrainians are going through. Some
of the most horrific stories I have heard are from Ukrainian
Christians who have been tortured by Russians. Russians
occupying Ukrainian territory seek to systematically crush
faith. Millions of Christians in occupied Ukraine are
worshiping underground, as my colleague Mark Sergeev said, in
fear of torture and prison for their beliefs. Protestants make
up less than 4 percent of Ukraine's population, but Protestants
have borne the brunt of the Russian abuse.
To fully understand why, I want to tell you about the role
of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is not a church as we
would think of one, but it is a working arm of the Kremlin.
Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church,
recently declared a holy war on Ukraine and the West. He
promised that Russians who die fighting in Ukraine will have
all their sins washed away. He stopped short of offering 72
virgins, but the strategy of creating martyrs is much the same
as ISIS. Russians see Protestants as Believers in American
religion and think that they must be agents of America, like
Russian Orthodox priests, are agents of the Kremlin.
I first became aware of Russia's torture of Christians in
Ukraine in 2022, when Viktor Cherniiavskyi told me of his
torture. Viktor was a pastor in Luhansk and had been evacuating
people from occupied areas. One day, Viktor was leaving with a
group of people that included a pregnant woman and a newborn
infant, the Russians pulled him over and took him to the
basement. Now, going to the basement is a euphemism for
torture, and they kept Viktor in the basement for 25 days,
including one day when he was tortured with an electrical Taser
like you would use for self-defense. A Russian Orthodox priest
stood over him and tried to cast demons out of him for being an
Evangelical Christian.
Viktor's story is far from unique. Only days into the
occupation of his city, the Russian [FSB] Fedral Security
Service came for Oleksandr Salfetnikov, pastor of the Light of
the Gospel Baptist Church. The Russians beat him with rubber
batons for three days, trying to make him confess to being an
agent of the [CIA] Central Intelligence Agency. When they
released him, he had to be wheeled out. His assistant pastor
did not survive his torture. We have collected--as Mark
mentioned--we collected many similar testimonies on our
website, RussiaTorturesChristians.org. However, unfortunately,
most Ukrainian Christians cannot speak out.
One Ukrainian believer who escaped to Poland told us that
after he went public with his torture, a Russian FSB agent in
the still-occupied hometown called him and told him what his
teenage niece was wearing to school that day. This is the level
of oppression. This is the level of detail the Russians go into
to keep Christians oppressed in Ukraine. Therefore, while
Russians are trying to overtly destroy Christianity in Ukraine,
in America Russia's work to cover it up and spread false
narratives to mislead Christians is active and ongoing.
Right here on Capitol Hill, Russian money is behind the
effort to persuade members of Congress that the Ukrainian
government is persecuting Christians. The Commission's
excellent work on this subject in 2023 helped the world
understand why this is Russian-inspired nonsense. However, let
me review. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, for decades the
branch of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, is home to
thousands of clergies who have spent their lives reporting to
Patriarch Kirill in Moscow. About a hundred of these clergy are
either in prison or on trial for espionage-related offenses.
However, this is just scratching the surface. We polled
Ukrainians. Our polling shows that hundreds of thousands of
people have left the Ukrainian Orthodox Church because they
heard their local clergy say things against Ukraine or saw them
do things to help the Russian war effort.
Therefore, this national security threat is widespread.
Yet, a Russian-Ukrainian oligarch who is currently a deacon in
the Russian Orthodox Church is paying a team of international
lawyers and lobbyists, American lobbyists, hundreds of
thousands of dollars to spread this false narrative inside
Congress and cover up for Russian war crimes against Ukrainian
Christians. Prominent members of the media, and even some
members of Congress, continue to tell Americans that the
Ukrainian government persecutes Christians.
To understand the extent to which Russian propaganda has
penetrated American media, the Ukraine Freedom Project polled
Republican primary voters on their attitudes toward Russia. A
quarter of Republican primary voters agreed with the statement,
that Russia is a country that promotes and encourages
traditional family values. Now, this is Russia, the country
that tortures Christians. Russia is the country that uses rape
as a weapon of war. Again, this is Russia the country that
brags about kidnapping hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian
Christians, and they promote traditional family values.
We polled how--
Chairman Wilson: Give us that stat again?
Mr. Moore: Sure. Twenty-five percent of Republican primary
voters agree with the statement that Russia is a country that
promotes and encourages traditional family values. We asked how
they got this information. Again, 25 percent of all Republican
voters believe this narrative. Among those who get their news
from Tucker Carlson, it is 38 percent. Among those who get
their news from Joe Rogan, it is 47 percent. Perhaps the most
indicative of the degree to which our adversaries are
collaborating is that people who get their news from TikTok
believe it at the rate of 35 percent.
Therefore, I want to thank the Commission for today's
opportunity to highlight the stories of so many brave
Ukrainians, people I have gotten to know, who have suffered for
their faith and their country, and to highlight the work of my
organization to help Ukrainians and tell their stories of
torture at the hands of Russians.
Chairman Wilson: Thank you very much, Steven, and indeed,
we are having votes now. Therefore, what we will be doing--I
will do five minutes, and Rachel Bauman in our office is really
a taskmaster. She is going to watch the five minutes. I cannot
go beyond five minutes, Rachel. Then the House members will
depart, vote, and come back. In the meantime, everybody will be
the beneficiary, because Senator Roger Wicker will be in
charge. [Laughter.] With that--
STATEMENT OF ROGER WICKER, U.S. SENATE, FROM MISSISSIPPI
Senator Wicker: It is a great feeling.
Chairman Wilson: It is a good one, hey. However, please,
five minutes, go.
Indeed, I want to thank each of you. Sadly, actually,
Steven, when you say TikTok, this is confirmation that there is
an axis of evil. Okay, the axis of evil is the Chinese
Communist Party, war criminal Putin, and the regime in Tehran.
People--and all Americans need to recognize this, and we are in
a war and conflict we did not--we did not start or want. That
is, it began February 24, 2022 with the invasion by war
criminal Putin into Ukraine. It continued with the invasion by
the puppets of Tehran on October 7 into Israel, and, sadly, it
challenges, of course, the people--the Chinese Communist Party,
Taiwan. Therefore, we need to recognize that.
Then I personally want to point out that, indeed, Pastor,
your bravery. The church that I go to, First Presbyterian
Church of Columbia, South Carolina, is the sponsor of Russian
language ministries. It is Alex and Irina Ponomarev who have
worked throughout the Slavic world to promote the love of
Jesus, not politics, and indeed, our church sponsors programs
for missions in Haiti, Guatemala, Wales, and Ukraine. We have
worked closely with Russian Americans coming to our church and
the love and affection that we have for the people of Russia.
Therefore, it is not political, and so it is just so
insulting to think that American missionaries are political. It
is not. It is a love of Jesus. That is what it is. With that in
mind, and indeed, Steven, you have brought it up, and that is
the Russian narrative, which is a nice term for propaganda. How
can we counteract that? What messages can we have?
Mr. Moore: Well, so we actually did--we have done extensive
polling on this. Therefore, we took a poll in the immediate
aftermath of the vote on April 20. What we found was that 22
percent of Republican primary voters had heard something about
the Tucker Carlson narrative that Ukraine is persecuting
Christians. However, the good news is that my organization,
Ukraine Freedom Project, and many of our allies, we had a lot
of allies doing this, we ran a campaign for most of the last
year leading up to the vote telling Americans, particularly
Republicans, particularly Republican Evangelicals, that Russia
is torturing and murdering Ukrainian Christians for their
faith.
Therefore, while 22 percent heard the Russian narrative, 34
percent heard our narrative. Therefore, it is a matter of
getting good information to people about what is actually
happening in Ukraine. You know, in the crazy times that we live
in, we are fortunate to find out that the truth still works.
Chairman Wilson: Hey, the truth shall set you free. Pastor
Sergeev, indeed, I was recently in Armenia, where it became so
clear that war criminal Putin is trying to recreate the evil,
failed Soviet Union. Therefore, that means every former Soviet
republic is at risk. Whether it be Armenia, or we see
immediately in Ukraine, we have already seen in Georgia, we see
in Moldova, we have seen threats to Estonia, over and over
again. Therefore, with the persecution of Christians today in
the occupied areas, how does that relate to the Soviet
persecution?
Mr. Sergeev: Well, sir, I want to say one thing. Like I
always have been months ago in the U.S. and sharing the
stories, we have to understand that this war is not about
territories, because Russia has the biggest territory. Some
people I met, Americans, they say, hey, this is a fight for
resources, and I am smiling because it is crazy. They have so
many resources. I mean, this war is about--it is a spiritual
war. They trying to rebuild an empire, and as Ronald Reagan
said, that was an empire of evil, and this is true.
I see this in my parents generation. I see they are afraid
because they know this. Like I said before, I have thi--the
whole generation who fight for freedom just to be a Christian.
We see this--what they are trying to do, and as I see right
now, it is--they start to close in on the churches. Now they
are going deeply because they take the buildings. They are
going and clean up small groups. Patriarch Kirill has a big
conversation with one mayor from the city--[inaudible]--in
Ukraine. He said, if you will not kill them all--Protestant
people--you will not win in the Zaporizhzhia area, and they
make it publicly. Therefore, they are making a kind of
Christian jihad, and this is the problem.
Chairman Wilson: Again. Thank you, each of you, for your
courage. Now I am very happy to turn it over to Senator Roger
Wicker from the great state of Mississippi.
Senator Wicker: Well, thank you. Thank you. Do, hurry back.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Veasey, do you have time to--we have time for you to
ask your questions if you--I will go ahead and recognize you.
Representative Veasey: Oh, thank you very much.
Dr. Wanner, I wanted to ask you about the persecution of
Protestant Christians in occupied Ukraine. Can you compare that
to how other religions may be treated there? I know that there
are, you know, Mormons there, that there are Jehovah's
Witnesses, that there are other religions out there. How are
those other religions being treated, in comparison?
Ms. Wanner: I think there is religious repression of all
non-Russian Orthodox Church-affiliated religious communities.
For example, in Ukraine, the second-biggest faith group is the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. They also are targeted for
repression of their clergy, believers, and the like. The
problem is, though, in the occupied territories there are very,
very significant numbers of specifically Baptist and
Pentecostal communities. Those faith groups have been
especially targeted. They are targeted in Russia. They were
targeted in the [USSR] Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
However, those Baptists and Evangelical Christian communities
predominated in Ukraine during the Soviet period. Certainly, in
the post-Soviet period, those Evangelical communities have
continued to grow.
They are, what is more, extremely active in society--both
politically in terms of social service provision, and social
policy formation, and the like. Therefore, it is specifically,
for a multitude of reasons, that Evangelicals--Baptists,
Evangelical Christians, and Pentecostals--those religious
communities and those religious leaders, have been especially
targeted. They are seen as a threat to Orthodoxy. They are
quite visible. They are quite effective. Since the outbreak of
the full-scale invasion, these Protestant communities have been
even more active in terms of providing humanitarian aid and
serving not just their own communities but serving the nation
more broadly. For these, and many other reasons, the Russian
Orthodox Church in Ukraine feels particularly threatened. They
have historically felt this way, because of the American
connection with Protestants, with Protestant faith groups, but
even more acutely today.
Representative Veasey: Yes. Oh, wow. Mr. Sergeev, I wanted
to ask you about the young people in Ukraine. I think that one
of the missions that we went on in Birmingham, England a couple
of years ago, there was--we stayed right across the street from
a church there, and I went and talked to the pastor. He was
telling me how church membership in England had been just
dwindling everywhere, really. Of course, in order for churches
to continue to grow and prosper, you have to have young people
there who participate and feel comfortable and safe being in
churches. I wanted to ask you, what impact has this had on
young people in Ukraine? How do you think that they will view
church and church attendance and being affiliated with churches
in the future, should these persecutions continue to happen?
Mr. Sergeev: Sir, I want to say one sure thing. In the last
two years, as I said before, like, I am not only the youth
pastor. I was a worship leader. We have a big YouTube channel
of worship songs. Therefore, America was a big example for us
for a long time. I mean, we sing the same songs. We translate
them to Ukrainian language and even the Russian language.
Therefore, in the last two years, me and my brother, we made 12
times a big worship school. Through this worship school, the
young generation came. More than four and a half thousand
people, musicians. They are still in Ukraine, still believing.
We kind of--from one place we have--yes, we are still
fighting. We have a war. Every night, they are shooting the
missiles, putting the drones. However, at that same moment, I
see how many of the young generation, they are still believing
and coming. We have so many open new churches right now, even
in Ukraine. In the midst of the whole chaos, the young
generation is still believing. I told today before to the
doctor Wanner that just last year I just post one story on my
Instagram. Fifteen seconds. Come together and just let us--get
together on Maidan Square in the center of Kyiv and pray about
our soldiers. Five hundred young adults came from one story.
We just gathered together. We would been there two hours
and no kind of officer--a police officer--came and said, hey,
go home. I mean, we have this big freedom in the midst of the
war, and we just gathered together and prayed. It is not a
problem for me to make any kind of Evangelical movement and put
the stage in front of somewhere square and just worship God.
Therefore, I see a future, you know. I am still believing that
God has a calling for this nation. That is why we are still
fighting. Thank you, sir.
Senator Wicker: Well, thank you very much, Representative
Veasey. Perhaps members of the House will be able to return.
I can say that there are a number of senators who feel very
strongly about this issue. We are getting ready for hearings,
getting ready for markups, and there is an important joint
meeting of the Congress today. Therefore, people will be coming
in and out. I think at this point I will--I will take the
liberty of making my opening statement. It may be then that
members of the panel would like to respond to anything I might
say. However, I do want to thank my colleagues in the House and
our great staff on the Helsinki Commission for putting this
together. I certainly appreciate the attendance today. This is
a very large crowd. I see people identified as clergymen.
Certainly, I am sure there are members of a variety of
religious faiths.
It is interesting that today a number of us in the House
and Senate will stand honoring the right of people of the
Jewish faith to live and to have a homeland where for once in
the history of several millennia they will be able to be safe.
Therefore, I think the Helsinki Commission and this hearing
stand for a larger principle, and that is our First Amendment
right to freedom of religion as part of freedom of expression.
Our witnesses today remind us of a tragically overlooked
victim of the dictator Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine, and
that is the Ukrainian Evangelical community. Former U.S.
Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam
Brownback has been a leading advocate on this issue. At this
point, I would enter for the record a piece he wrote
highlighting the mistreatment of those Christians. It is dated
Friday, April 19, 2024. I hear no objection, so without
objection, it will be admitted.
Under Russia's thumb, Evangelical leaders have been
systematically persecuted for their faith. Some have been
tortured or sent away. Some have been killed. Groups of
Evangelical faithful have been forced to assemble in secret.
They know their gatherings could be violently disrupted at any
time, and that they could suffer physical harm without a
moment's notice. In at least one instance, Russian soldiers
swarmed the church as congregates were singing songs of
worship.
I do appreciate, Mr. Sergeev, the fact that you like to
sing the same hymns as we do. I am old-fashioned myself and
like the traditional hymns. There is a bit of debate in my
denomination about that. [Laughter.] However, Russian soldiers
have evicted members and turned Ukrainian churches into
propaganda offices. In Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, there
is no accountability for these crimes. Vladimir Putin plays by
his own rules. Inside Russia, he broadcasts the lie that
Evangelicals are political tools of the United States. To the
rest of the world, he falsely claims that Ukraine is actually
the one persecuting believers. As witnesses have said just
today, he is persuaded some vocal, visible voices in the United
States, unbelievably, to make that assertion. It is almost
inconceivable that that could be taking place.
Vladimir Putin lies because there is no honest reason for
his assault on Ukraine. Only a cloud of falsehoods can obscure
his crime and create the illusion that he is doing God's work.
It reminds me of what we used to call, during the Soviet era,
the big lie. Leaders tell a lie so fantastic and so vast that
some people, gullible people, hearing that cannot imagine that
anyone would tell such a tale if it were not the truth. That is
the big lie. Mr. Putin has learned from some of the masters of
the big lie that dominated the USSR during the time. Erasing
Evangelical churches is part of Mr. Putin's goal to erase
Ukraine as a nation.
Evangelical churches reflect the tradition of religious
freedom in Ukraine. That spiritual legacy has flourished in the
country since the fall of the Soviet Union, the kind of regime
Russia hopes to reassert. That is what they are up to. It is
Ukraine today. It is a couple of provinces in Georgia. It is
attacking at the border of Armenia. There are too many places
where Mr. Putin's Russia is involved to think that he is doing
anything else. This kind of regime cannot allow religious
freedom because free thinking presents a threat to a tyrant
like Vladimir Putin. It exposes his lies to the detoxifying
effects of the open air.
The United States and Ukraine prioritize freedom of
religion. In Russia, Putin permits the practice of organized
religion only if he deems it sufficiently loyal to his regime.
Russian invaders require that Ukrainian Evangelicals swear
loyalty to Putin before allowing them to practice their faith.
This vile threat asks simply that Ukrainian Evangelicals
violate their faith by placing a man above God. Vladimir Putin
demands that believers foreswear their allegiance to Christ and
place it in the hands of a murderous, godless tyrant.
I urge us all to be skeptical when we hear malicious lies
that Russia is a haven for Christian civilization and
traditional values. What a fantastic lie. In Russia and Russia-
occupied Ukraine, there is no respect for the primacy of
conscience, the freedom of the individual, and the dignity of
human life. The occupiers defile churches, abduct and torture
pastors--as we have heard today in testimony--and erase whole
congregations. Russia has forced the once-vibrant Ukrainian
Evangelical community underground.
To the Ukrainian Evangelicals risking their lives every day
by expressing their beliefs, I have to say this: Keep the
faith. Justice will come for the Russian aggressor. I say that
to members of all faiths, all religions, of whatever stripe. In
Ukraine you have a right, no matter what your beliefs are, to
express your faith. It is my fervent hope that the United
States and other members of the OSCE will stand for justice for
the Russian aggressor.
Now, at this point that concludes my formal statement. We
have already entered into the record the article from April
written by my former colleague, former Representative, and
former Governor Brownback. Let me ask you, and I will start
with Mr. Moore, in the third or fourth paragraph of Ambassador
Brownback's article, he mentions the Russian Orthodox Church as
you described it, Mr. Moore. However, I hope you will help us
clear up a statement that I heard you make that seems to
contradict what I understand Ambassador Brownback is saying.
He says, there is a now-independent Orthodox Church of
Ukraine which is fully in support of freedom of religion and
does not answer to Russia. Therefore, you would discuss that
and tell us your understanding of the Russian Orthodox Church
from Moscow, which is still present in parts of Ukraine, as
opposed to and compared to the now-independent Orthodox Church
of Ukraine.
Mr. Moore: Yes. I am happy to help out with that.
Therefore, in 2019, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church--not to be
confused with the--see, so, sorry, yes. [Laughter.] Which I was
confused. However, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is the
homegrown Ukrainian branch of orthodoxy that reports to the
patriarch in Kyiv, where the--where the--[laughs]--Ukrainian
Orthodox Church is the branch that reports to Moscow. If you
look at this over time, you know, at the beginning of the
independent Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was attended
by probably 70 percent of Ukrainians. Therefore, this is the
one that reports to Moscow. As that church became increasingly
more pro-Russian, then more and more Ukrainians left it.
You know, we have to poll those details this and shows--we
asked people. You know, we did basically a customer service
poll of former members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. We
found out why they left. You know, a majority of them left
simply because they felt that the church was too pro-Russian.
As I mentioned in my testimony, about 8 percent left because
they had seen the clergy do something to aid the Russian war
effort or to say something against Ukraine.
Therefore, you know, the majority of Ukrainians are voting
with their feet, so to speak. They are leaving the Russian-
Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is loyal to Moscow, and they
are joining the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is the one
that has a patriarch in Kyiv. Therefore, that is--does that--
does that help with your question?
Senator Wicker: Well, let me see if I can rephrase this.
Mr. Moore: Sure.
Senator Wicker: There is the Orthodox Church of Russia,
with a patriarch in Moscow. There was a Ukrainian Orthodox
Church with a patriarch in Kyiv who answered to the patriarch
in Moscow. There was. Now, Dr. Wanner, would you like to take
issue with that?
Ms. Wanner: It is a complicated situation.
Ms. Wicker: Well, it surely is. [Laughter.] That is why it
is taking me some time.
Ms. Wanner: I will try to--I will try to be very brief.
There is the Russian Orthodox Church that has a patriarch in
Moscow. For over 300 years, Ukrainian religious life was under
the Moscow Patriarchate.
Senator Wicker: Such as it could be, under the USSR.
Ms. Wanner: Correct, such as it could be. However, the
Russian Orthodox Church was the one church that was allowed to
function in a somewhat unencumbered way in the USSR, unlike,
for example, Evangelicals, who were heavily, heavily monitored
and repressed in the Soviet Union. Having said that, the
Russian Orthodox Church did exist throughout the Soviet period
and continues to exist.
Therefore, the churches after Ukrainian independence, those
Orthodox churches in Ukraine, became known as the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate because they have
institutional connections that bring them--they are under the
patriarch in Moscow. This became--after almost three decades of
an independent Ukrainian state, increasingly unacceptable in
Ukraine, that they did not have their own Orthodox Church with
their own patriarch. Of course, especially after 2014, when the
war broke out, momentum for severing ties with Moscow mounted.
However, it was at this period, Steven's correct, in 2019 a
separate, self-governing Orthodox Church of Ukraine was formed.
However, that means in Ukraine there are two Orthodox churches,
which is a highly unusual situation. One Orthodox Church has a
leader, in Kyiv. The other Orthodox Church is not entirely
independent. It is not entirely autonomous. It has a very
amorphous and evolving relationship, but it still is formally
connected with the Moscow Patriarchate.
Senator Wicker: However, can we both agree--can Mr. Moore
and Dr. Wanner both agree that there is a now-independent
Orthodox Church of Ukraine that does not answer to anyone in
Moscow?
Ms. Wanner: Correct. That is correct. That is correct.
Senator Wicker: All right. Mr. Sergeev, would you like to
comment on this before I move on to another topic?
Mr. Sergeev: Well, I mean--
Senator Wicker: I am sure you cannot imagine why anyone
would stay in the Orthodox Church and not join yours. That is
their right, is not it?
Mr. Sergeev: We have--before the war started in Melitopol,
we have a big community of pastors. We have a great
relationship with even the Moscow Orthodox church. However, as
a chaplain, I can say a couple of weeks ago when I came back
from the front line--I was in one area, one city, where there
was one Moscow Orthodox temple. It is right now completely
destroyed by Russians. However, our soldiers, Ukrainian
soldiers, too one priest, Paul, from this temple. Russia
exchanged this priest for 90 Ukrainian soldiers. Russia gave
for one Orthodox priest and 90 Ukrainian soldiers who have been
in prison. It tells us a story, of how many--
Senator Wicker: In a prisoner exchange?
Mr. Sergeev: Yes.
Senator Wicker: Okay.
Mr. Sergeev: They exchanged one for 90. Therefore, many
agents of Russia work inside of Ukraine, and they look like
Christians. They are making services and kind of work
worshiping God. However, they are just working for Putin. This
is--this is a fact. I am, like, a military chaplain, and I know
these stories, how they look like. Therefore, this church for
Ukraine, it is very dangerous, really, for our nation.
I understand, from one side we are--we are living in a
democratic country, and we believe that everything is okay.
Yes, we have to build our church and be free in our religious
faith. However, as I see every church, and every pastor who
runs away from occupation in Melitopol, they support Ukraine--
Greek Catholics, Roman Catholics, Kyiv Orthodox Church.
However, only one priest who let still there in occupation and
works with Russia is from the Moscow Orthodox Church.
Therefore, it is the facts that I just give you, and we are
praying--[laughs]--but yes.
Senator Wicker: Okay. Well, in the occupied territory, are
the--are the churches that do not answer to Moscow, are they
all underground or are some of them still able to operate in
the open? How do underground churches meet and work? Do they
have to move from place to place? Just describe that.
Mr. Sergeev: There are not anymore, any kind of Evangelical
churches in occupied territories.
Senator Wicker: Oh, really? Okay.
Mr. Sergeev: Yes.
Senator Wicker: Not even underground?
Mr. Sergeev: Like I said, for a couple of small groups.
Even they come in sometimes in the houses and take them to
prison. Therefore--
Mr. Wicker: Small prayer groups, things like that?
Mr. Sergeev: Five, three people--
Senator Wicker: Right.
Mr. Sergeev: I cannot say here publicly, because so many
people it is dangerous for them. However, I am still in contact
with these people, with the leaders. Sometimes they are not
even--we just change the numbers. We speak secretly because it
is dangerous for their life. However, we understand how many--I
know how many people still--members from my church are still
there in occupied territories and still getting together to
pray. However, it is dangerous for their life, really.
Senator Wicker: Well, okay, now I assume in the areas of
Ukraine that are not occupied by Russia, is there total
religious freedom?
Mr. Sergeev: A hundred percent.
Senator Wicker: Okay. I believe it is true that by some 70-
plus percent in the last presidential election, the voters in
Ukraine elected a Jew as their president. Is that correct?
Mr. Sergeev: Well, he is not actually a Jew. [Laughs.] I
mean, but--
Senator Wicker: Well, he says he is.
Mr. Sergeev: He is Jewish, yes.
Senator Wicker: Okay.
Mr. Sergeev: He is Jewish.
Mr. Moore: I might add that the defense minister is Muslim.
Senator Wicker: There you go. All right. Therefore, do--is
there any hint of a reason why any independent observer would
say there is a problem with religious freedom in the non-
occupied part? I mean, are the Russian Orthodox Churches
discriminated against by the government or by the police, in
the free part of Ukraine? Dr. Wanner, yes.
Ms. Wanner: There is a motion to discuss the status of what
is called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow
Patriarchate, the status of this religious group in Ukraine.
That is because, you know, you very accurately depicted the
attitude of the Russian state towards repressing dissent of any
form. One of the things that Vladimir Putin has
instrumentalized, even weaponized, is religion.
He has weaponized this, I would go beyond what was stated
earlier, not just in the former republics turned independent
countries of the former Soviet Union, but he is doing this
around the world. That is to say, using the Russian Orthodox
Church, if you will, almost as an arm of the Russian state--to
pursue Russian foreign policy, and to enhance the geopolitical
position of the Russian Federation, and to alter alliances in
favor of the Russian state. Therefore, this is one of the
reasons why the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow
Patriarchate, which at least formally still has institutional
connections to Moscow, has become an object of concern in
Ukraine today.
Beyond that one issue, I think there is tremendous
religious freedom in Ukraine. That is why Protestant
communities were not only able to be created but to grow in
Ukraine. Why, I would say, even before 2014 they, in fact, had
Ukraine, if you will, as a base that served Eurasia. In other
words, Protestant communities in Ukraine were very, very active
in terms of humanitarian, educational, and missionizing
endeavors. This, of course, is seen as a threat in Russia
precisely because of the potential growth of Protestantism that
that represents.
Given the negative associations of Protestantism--and
specifically of the Baptist Church and Evangelical Christian
and Pentecostal churches--then that makes a multiplication of
potential American spies, if you will, to use their rhetoric,
throughout wherever those particular faith communities should
grow. Be they in Eurasia, be they on the African continent, be
they in the occupied territories of Ukraine. That is why the
position of the Russian Orthodox Church, by and large, has been
to shut down those churches and shut down those kinds of
missionary, educational, and humanitarian efforts.
Senator Wicker: Let me ask you to expound on that. However,
first of all, am I pronouncing your name correctly?
Ms. Wanner: You are. You are.
Senator Wicker: It is Wanner.
Ms. Wanner: Yes.
Senator Wicker: Okay. Well, then compare with us other
former [USSR] Union of Soviet Socialist Republics countries.
Then I think you mentioned Africa also. Are Protestant
congregations in Ukraine currently, and have they been, sending
missionaries to these other places, like the former USSR and
Africa? How is it spread?
Ms. Wanner: To the extent that that is possible. Of course,
that wavers over time and, of course, from country to country.
However, yes.
Senator Wicker: However, where is--which former USSR
countries are doing better in that regard? In allowing
religious freedom and allowing other--
Ms. Wanner: If you want to count the Baltics, I mean, they
are, of course, part of the [EU] European Union and so they
then adopted EU legislation. However, of the other former
republics turned independent countries of the former USSR, I
would say there is none.
Senator Wicker: The `stans.
Ms. Wanner: They do not surpass Ukraine, in my view.
Senator Wicker: They do not have much to brag about.
Ms. Wanner: Because, for example, I mean, there are robust
Muslim communities in Ukraine as well that are driven by
immigrants from primarily Muslim countries of the former Soviet
Union to Ukraine, as well as by a burgeoning Afghan community
in Ukraine. Therefore, there are quite a few Muslims in Ukraine
at this point. They too are quite vocal. They serve--they too
serve as chaplains in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Senator Wicker: Which one of you could give us some
statistics about religious affiliation and membership in
Ukraine? How many Baptists are there? How many new Ukrainian
Orthodox are there? Does anybody have those statistics? Okay,
Mr. Sergeev, and then we will come back to--
Mr. Sergeev: A couple of phrases. We have the Baptist
Union. This Baptist Union has more than 2,000 churches in
Ukraine. Now it is the biggest Baptist Union in Europe if we
count the people. We have a Pentecostal Union. We have more
than 3,500 churches in Ukraine. Well, what percentage of the
population would be in those two?
Senator Wicker: It is not a big one. It is not the United
States. [Laughs.] I mean, I think it is kind of 3 percent.
Mr. Moore: We have polled it. Therefore, Protestants are
about 4 percent of the Ukrainian population. However, oddly
enough, Baptists are the third-largest Christian denomination
after--there is Orthodox, there is Greek Catholic at about 10
percent, and then Baptist is the next-biggest denomination.
Among Orthodox, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that reports to
Moscow is in that 4 percent range as well. Again, they have
just--they are--
Senator Wicker: Okay. Down to 4 percent.
Mr.Moore: Yes. Therefore, their parishioners have
plummeted. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine has, I want to say,
around 50 percent. I can get those numbers to the Commission.
However, it is a very large percentage.
Senator Wicker: Well, listen. Mr. Chairman, I do believe my
five minutes have expired. [Laughter.] Let me just end with
this. Here is why freedom has got to win out in the end. I want
to quote from Ecclesiastes, third chapter, 11th verse: He has
set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the
work that God has done from the beginning to the end. There is
something in the human soul that makes most of us seek to
understand eternity and spiritual things. When freedom allows
that to flourish, humankind is better, and what you are about,
and what you are doing, is so important. I am so grateful to
each of you for taking a stand, and for helping us understand
it better on this side of the Atlantic. Thank you. Thank you,
Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Wilson: Thank you, acting chairman. We are really
grateful the first string was here. Now the second string.
Therefore, we now proceed to Congressman Wiley Nickel of North
Carolina.
STATEMENT OF WILEY NICKEL, U.S. HOUSE, FROM NORTH CAROLINA
Representative Nickel: Thank you so much. Good morning.
Slava Ukraini [Glory to Ukraine]. It is great to be with you. I
just returned several weeks ago from a bipartisan, bicameral
visit to Ukraine for about a week. We were joined by, Senator
Wicker, and your colleague, Joni Ernst. Had a very important
fact-finding mission. The issue of persecution of Evangelical
Christians in Ukraine is an incredibly important topic, and I
am really glad to be joined in a bipartisan way here to shed
light on this because this is an issue that is not getting
enough attention right now. Thank you to the U.S. Helsinki
Commission of organizing today's hearing, and to our witnesses,
again, for being with us.
Ukraine is a nation with a rich tradition of religious
freedom. It is home to many Christian denominations.
Unfortunately, under Russian occupation, these communities have
faced severe repression and violence. When I traveled to
Ukraine earlier this year, I heard about the atrocities
firsthand, and had the opportunity to meet with Tamila Tasheva,
the permanent representative of the president of Ukraine in the
Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and Dr. Viktor Yelensky, a
Ukrainian scholar and politician. We discussed their efforts to
prevent further human rights violations and to protect victims
of the Russian occupation. I hope that today's hearing will
shed further light on these atrocities and highlight the urgent
need for Ukrainian victory to restore and protect religious
freedom.
First question, Mr. Moore. Thank you so much for your
leadership. It must be--it must be unusual to be on the
opposite side of the hearings here today, but so far you seem
to be doing very--
Mr. Moore: Oh, thanks. Yes. Well, you guys make it easy.
Thank you for that.
Representative Nickel: You know, grateful for your work
with the Ukraine Freedom Project. It is been crucial to
documenting and exposing Russia's systematic oppression of
Ukrainian Christians. Can you talk more about the specific
challenges you have faced in bringing this information to the
international community's attention?
Mr. Moore: Sure. Well, there is getting the information to
begin with, because the atrocities are all happening in the
occupied areas. You know, oddly enough, the Russians are not
welcoming me there. Therefore, getting that information is
difficult, and then, because so many people, like Pastor
Sergeev, have friends that are still in these occupied
territories, there is a lot they cannot say. Therefore, the
Russians are very good at oppressing people, finding leverage
on them, and making them do what they want. The Russians do not
want this to get out. Therefore, that is a problem.
Then there is just generating interest among people--we
started a campaign in earnest last September, almost a year ago
now. You know, I wrote an op-ed, and I shopped it around to
everyone I could possibly find, and no one wanted it. It took
me weeks. Finally, a niche publication for Christian foreign
policy called Providence Magazine--a great bunch of folks doing
really good work--took my first op-ed, and from that, then
generated a lot of other work. Ultimately, as more and more
people got involved in this and more and more--and they--we
were able to--you know, there was 100 articles about this
between October and April. We were responsible for about 70 of
them.
Therefore, generating that interest. Then also, finally,
just working against the people who are--who are not
constrained by the truth. The Russian propagandists are not
constrained by the truth. You know, they have more money than
we do, by a lot. You know, we--you know, if we get into the six
figures in fundraising, it is a--you know, that is a good year
for us. Meanwhile, the estimates of Russian propaganda spending
worldwide is, like, $2.4 billion. Therefore, there is a massive
tide that we are swimming against. You know, and, again, as I
mentioned to Chairman Wilson earlier, fortunately, the truth
still works.
Representative Nickel: Thanks so much.
Pastor Sergeev, can you describe the impact of the Russian
occupation on your church community and how your congregation
has been able to maintain their faith and resilience during
such a truly difficult time?
Mr. Sergeev: Excuse me, how they what?
Representative Nickel: How they have been able to maintain
their faith, the impact of Russian occupation on them?
Mr. Sergeev: Well, look, 80 percent of our members ran
away. We have so many--a couple of churches, small churches, in
Germany right now getting together so many people at Ukrainian
territory, free territory. However, we still have a kind of 200
in small groups. I said before, I cannot tell you how much,
where. However, the good news is that so many Ukrainians got to
Europe, and now we have hundreds of new churches open because
they are free people, and they believe in God, and they just
spread the gospel and opened up the new churches. I have been--
this is my 24th country in the last two years for me. I have
been to Israel twice. I met so many Ukrainians who work in
Israel right now preaching the gospel and sharing the stories.
They ran away from one war, and now they are in Israel got
another war. There are some people from Ukraine the third time
they are coming back to Europe from Israel because Hamas is
shooting and, yes.
However, I think this is kind of new level of faith, I
think, and we aare just sharing the stories. I really still
believe that God has a big calling for this nation. That is why
I am here, sharing the story, and that is why I am coming back
tomorrow to Ukraine--[laughs]--because there are soldiers
waiting for me to listen, to help. We have a big community of
chaplains right now. It is kind of new web, and actually, I
want to say a big thank you to every American chaplain who
comes to Ukraine and helps us, because you have a big
experience.
The story of the American chaplain is 200 years old. We
have only nine--the last nine years, like, we have this
experience. We are waiting, and we are very thankful for
support of chaplains who serve to Ukrainian nation and teach us
how to do this whole thing and work with the --is that correct?
And, in Ukraine how to help soldiers. Even yesterday, I saw the
helicopter, and I am a little bit afraid because always when I
see something in the sky, really inside of me I am preparing
that if somebody has to shut down or going to come into some
buildings. Yes, so this is our life right now.
Representative Nickel: Thank you so much. My time has
expired.
Mr. Moore: If I could just add one thing, I would like to
just--because it is timely, and it is something that Pastor
Sergeev mentioned. You know, so the first place that Hamas went
after October 7 was to Russia, to Moscow to see Putin. Putin
has been periodically organizing summits between the
Palestinian terror organizations, and Iran. He is doing this in
Moscow. Therefore, as we listen today to Prime Minister
Netanyahu's speech, and we listen to the protesters, I just
want to make sure that everyone's aware of who Hamas' allies
are, and who is Iran's allies. It is Russia. It is Moscow. It
is Putin.
Representative Nickel: Therefore, that is a great point,
and just on the chaplain issue, you know, I was glad to see
that the chaplain for the U.S. House of Representatives joined
us earlier. I saw her here. However, thank you so much, Chair
Wilson, for your leadership on this issue, bringing much-needed
attention to this very important issue.
Chairman Wilson: Thank you very much, Congressman. Again,
you can see it is bipartisan--Democrat, Republican. Indeed, as
we conclude, I appreciate, Steven, you bring up, hey,
connecting the dots. There are good people who simply are not
connecting the dots. The dots are perfectly clear. It is called
Iranian drones being used by war criminal Putin to kill
Ukrainians, okay? However, that is just one dot. I mean, there
are dots everywhere. Hamas showing up in Moscow, Hamas showing
up in Beijing. How could this be? Hamas really is a puppet of
the regime in Tehran. Therefore, I just want to thank you all.
We have got to educate the American people because there
are good people who are just not understanding that we are
facing an axis of evil. That is the regime in Tehran. We have
got war criminal Putin and the Chinese Communist Party. They
are working together, collaborating together to invade
democracies. Their goal is really--they are very eager to let
us know in English--that is, death to Israel, death to America.
Therefore, it is a foreign war today, but their plan is to
bring it here. Therefore, I want to thank you.
Then we also need to get across that, indeed, what war
criminal Putin is trying to do. The way he has misled the
people of the Russian Federation is to recreate an empire.
However, they need to know it is the failed Soviet empire for
the benefit of oligarchs. It does not benefit the people of
Russia. I have had wonderful visits. I had my business cards in
Russian. I was so hoping--Chelyabinsk is the sister city of my
hometown, Will's hometown, of Columbia, South Carolina. I am
very grateful to have visited Novosibirsk one time. Steven,
there was a billboard in English that said, "Welcome to
Novosibirsk: The Chicago of Siberia." I have had a University
of South Carolina student who was from St. Petersburg as an
intern in my office. I stayed with his family in St.
Petersburg.
Therefore, just had such high hopes, for visits to Moscow.
I led a delegation to place a wreath at the world's largest
open cemetery, for the victims of the siege of Leningrad. Half
a million people were buried in an open cemetery. It was--we
put a wreath there in the shape of the United States and red,
white, and blue flowers to show our love and affection for the
people of Russia. While I was there, I found out that the
success--Dr. Wanner would know, but I did not know--and that is
that the success of Joseph Stalin in stopping Hitler at
Leningrad was due to American lend-lease. All of the equipment
that the Soviets used was equipment provided by the United
States to our, at that time, Soviet allies. Therefore, over and
over again we have a deep affection for the people of Russia,
and we want the best.
A final point that really--I had the opportunity,
gruesomely, to visit Bucha. Therefore, I was there. I met with
a grandmother who told me about how she was just driving along
with her 16-year-old grandson in the front seat, and the
Russian soldier, without any provocation, without any warning,
shot and killed her grandson in the front seat of the car. Then
we visited with a family whose family members were taken out of
their home there in Bucha. They took the family out, hands tied
behind their back, shot them in the head, and buried them in a
yard.
Then putting it in perspective for Americans, in visiting
Bucha I could have been in any American subdivision, suburban
area. The homes were very Americanized. In fact, something that
we could all identify, two blocks from where the executions
took place there is still a functioning drive-through
McDonald's. We are not talking about some third world anywhere.
Therefore, it is just so important that we support the people
of Ukraine, support the people of Israel, support the people of
Taiwan. That we maintain the borders of Ukraine, the borders of
Israel, the borders of Taiwan, and the borders of the United
States.
With that, we are adjourned. [Bangs gavel.] [Applause.]
[Whereupon, at 11:37 a.m., the hearing ended.]
Additional Submission for the Record
OPENING STATEMENT OF BEN CARDIN
Thank you, Chairman Wilson, for organizing this hearing of the
Helsinki Commission to examine how Russia's war in Ukraine has affected
religious freedom there.
Religious persecution is not a new story in Ukraine. There is a
history of repression against Jews, Orthodox priests, and other
communities, often based on falsehoods and stereotypes. The Soviet
State considered these religious communities a threat to their power.
Russia has never fully divorced itself from this Soviet apparatus of
repression. In fact, Putin continues this practice in occupied Ukraine,
today.
As PBS has reported--
``Since the occupation, evangelical congregations, Protestant
churches, all the non-Russian Orthodox Christian faiths have been
deemed undesirable and tens of thousands of believers have been forced
to flee. Those who remain gather in secret in private homes for fear of
angering the new regime.''
It is no surprise Putin sees Ukraine's freedoms as a threat to his
regime. On a micro level, individual freedoms in Ukraine threaten
loyalty to the Russian ``authorities'' operating on illegally occupied
territory. On a macro level, as Ukraine chooses its own values and
alliances--it is moving out of Moscow's orbit.
In an effort to enforce complete loyalty to Moscow, Putin wants to
prevent people from having the freedom to worship as they choose. He
uses the Russian Orthodox Church--controlled by the state--as a
political litmus test.
The horrific treatment of Ukrainians by occupying authorities,
which we will hear about today, reminds us that a ``peace plan'' from
Russia that leaves Ukrainians trapped under occupation will not bring
peace.
To defeat this cynicism, and to prevent Russia from further
expanding its control across Ukraine, we and our allies must do
everything possible to prevent Russian persecution of Christians in
Ukraine and help Ukraine win on its own terms.
I am want to thank our witnesses' for sharing their experiences
today.
OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN JOE WILSON
The Commission will come to order. Good morning to all who have
joined us today. Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge [other
members present].
The Helsinki Commission has long seen freedom of religion or belief
as a priority. Ukraine is a living example--Ukrainians of all
backgrounds and creeds are bravely working together in defense of their
homeland, and ultimately in defense of freedom and democracy. Religious
freedom is respected and protected. It is one of the core values
Ukraine fights for.
Meanwhile, it is illegal in Russia to evangelize, as expressing
religion that is not connected to the State is a threat to the facade
that war criminal Putin depends on to stay in power.
Christians in Ukraine, particularly evangelical Christians, as we
will learn more about today, have been the target of horrific torture
and abuse by Russian forces. Evangelicals are seen by the Kremlin as
being ``pro-American'' and are specifically sought out for kidnapping
and torture.
Ukraine, some of which have been occupied for a decade, is not safe
for Christians, as we will learn today because of war criminal Putin
and his thugs. It is not safe for anyone who refuses to submit to the
demands of the occupiers. Those who serve a higher power present a real
challenge for war criminal Putin, both in Russia and in occupied
Ukraine, as he and his delusional enablers worship the failed Soviet
Empire.
I look forward to hearing about this from our witnesses, in
addition to more about Ukraine's religious landscape and how the United
States can support our brave Ukrainian friends living under Russian
occupation.
Their words will speak for themselves. The testimoneys are graphic
and incredibly disturbing. Those who support freedom support Ukraine.
First, we will hear from Dr. Catherine Wanner, who is a
professor of History, Anthropology, and Religious Studies at Penn
State.
Next, speaking about his experiences in church leadership
in occupied Ukraine is Pastor Mark Sergeev [sir-GAY-ev].
Finally, we have former congressional Chief of Staff now
founder of the Ukraine Freedom Project, Steven E. Moore.
With this, I will turn to [Commissioners present] for any
opening remarks, after which we will hear from Dr. Wanner.
OPENEING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ROGER WICKER
Thank you, Chairman Wilson, for organizing this hearing. Our
witnesses today will remind us of a tragically overlooked victim of
Putin's war on Ukraine: The Ukrainian Evangelical community. Former
U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam
Brownback, has been a leading advocate on this issue. I would like to
begin by entering into the record a piece he wrote highlighting the
mistreatment of these Christians.
Under Russia's thumb, evangelical leaders have been systematically
persecuted for their faith. Some have been tortured or sent away. Some
have been killed.
Groups of evangelical faithful have been forced to assemble in
secret. They know their gatherings could be violently disrupted and
that they could suffer physical harm--without a moment's notice. In at
least one instance, Russian soldiers swarmed a church as congregants
were singing songs of worship. They evicted the members and turned the
church into a propaganda office.
In Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, there is no accountability
for these crimes. Vladimir Putin plays by his own rules. Inside Russia,
he broadcasts the lie that evangelicals are political tools of the
United States. To the rest of the world, he falsely claims that Ukraine
is actually the one persecuting believers.
Vladimir Putin lies because there is no honest reason for his
assault on Ukraine. Only a cloud of falsehoods can obscure his crime
and create the illusion that he is doing God's work.
Erasing evangelical churches is part and parcel of Vladimir Putin's
goal to erase Ukraine as a Nation. Evangelical churches reflect the
tradition of religious freedom in Ukraine. That spiritual legacy has
flourished in the country since the fall of the Soviet Union--the kind
of regime Russia hopes to reassert.
That kind of regime cannot allow religious freedom, because free
thinking presents a threat to a tyrant like Putin. It exposes his lies
to the detoxifying effects of the open air.
The United States and Ukraine prioritize the freedom of religion.
In Russia, Putin permits the practice of organized religion only if he
deems it sufficiently loyal to his regime. Russian invaders require
that Ukrainian Evangelicals swear loyalty to Putin before allowing them
to practice their faith. This vile threat asks simply that Ukrainian
Evangelicals violate their faith by placing a man above God. Vladimir
Putin demands that believers foreswear their allegiance to Christ and
place it in the hands of a murderous, godless tyrant.
I urge you to be skeptical when you hear the malicious lie that
Russia is a haven for Christian civilization and traditional values. In
Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine, there is no respect for the
primacy of conscience, the freedom of the individual, and the dignity
of human life. The occupiers defile churches, abduct and torture
pastors, and erase whole congregations. Russia has forced the once-
vibrant Ukrainian Evangelical community underground. To the Ukrainian
Evangelicals risking their lives every day by expressing their beliefs,
I have this to say: Keep the faith. Justice will come for the Russian
aggressor.
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION OF EVANGELICALS IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF
UKRAINE
TESTIMONY OF CATHERINE WANNER PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND
RELIGIOUS STUDIES, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY
There are more Evangelicals in Ukraine than in any other country in
Europe. They include Baptists, Evangelical Christians, Pentecostals as
well as other Protestant faith communities. Many factors have
contributed to this concentration of Protestant believers in Ukraine
but surely the emergence of tolerance of religious diversity and
religious pluralism as governing principles in Ukraine are key among
them. This has created a vibrant religious marketplace in which a
plethora of religious groups compete for members and in which religious
symbolism and practice are broadly accepted in public institutions and
in public spaces. When Ukrainian territories first fell under Russian
occupation in 2014, the persecution of minority religious communities
ensued. Evangelicals were especially targeted for repressive measures.
What follows is why Protestants in particular incur the wrath of
Russian ruling authorities and specifically what the consequences have
been for Evangelical clergy and believers.
The repression of Protestants in the occupied territories of
Ukraine, starting in 2014 and accelerating after the full-scale
invasion of February 24, 2022, has been so virulent because the
established religious pluralism and tolerance of religious minorities
that allowed Protestant communities to grow and thrive in Ukraine
clashes with the forced implementation of the Russian World ideology
that comes with Russian rule. This is the first of two reasons. The
Russian World posits that Eastern Slavs are part of a single spiritual
and historic civilizational space that includes Russians, Ukrainians,
Belarussians, and sometimes even Moldova and Kazakhstan as well. To be
Ukrainian is to be Orthodox. There is no place for Protestants in the
Russian World. They are apostates to their faith and traitors to their
nation precisely because they have abandoned Orthodoxy. The Russian
World ideology serves to justify the repression of religious
minorities, especially Evangelicals, and to privilege Russian Orthodoxy
as a state-protected guardian of "traditional values," public morality,
and social and political order.
The second reason is that Baptists and Evangelical Christians have
long been demonized because of the negative associations with the
United States that Protestantism carries. The projected connections
between Protestantism and the United States mean that clergy and active
believers are often subject to charges of being "foreign agents" or
"American spies." The 2012 Foreign Agent law has been repeatedly used
in Russia, and now in the occupied territories as well, to crack down
on independent civil society organizations, to silence dissent, and to
jail even potential members of the opposition. This law is used to
restrict religious freedoms, freedom of speech, and freedom of
assembly. It targets religious leaders, members of NGOs, human rights
activists, and independent journalists by mandating complicated, and
often contradictory, reporting and registration requirements. Non-
compliance results in fines, jail, or closure of the organization.
As a result, the occupation of Ukrainian territories by Russian-
controlled forces slips easily and quickly into religious repression,
especially of Evangelicals, because the Russian state advocates
entirely different policies toward non-Russian Orthodox Church-
affiliated religious communities. The repressive treatment Evangelicals
received in the USSR, and to a degree continue to experience in Russia,
is significantly more brutal and violent in the Russian-controlled,
occupied territories of Ukraine.
HOW UKRAINE BECAME THE EURASIAN BIBLE BELT
Three empires intersected in Ukraine, Russian, Austro-Hungarian,
and Ottoman, creating tremendous religious and cultural diversity in
this borderland region. The German Tsarina Catherine II, looking to
develop the rich agricultural lands of Ukraine, enticed German Baptists
to relocate to Ukraine with the promises of land. They formed a basis
from which Protestant communities would grow. The occupied territories
were part of the Russian Empire, where peoples were categorized for
governing purposes by religion. Baptists became known by the German
word "Stundists," to signify their strange habit of devoting an hour to
Bible study and were shunned for their foreignness.
In the Soviet Union, the negative foreign connotations of Baptists
and Evangelical Christians became closely associated with the United
States. Ford, Rockefeller, and other titans of American industry were
demonized as Protestants, who were called "sectarians" to signal their
cult-like congregational life. Soviet anti-religious propaganda was
laden with shrill accusations of zombified Protestant believers
drinking the blood of children during their rituals as they acted as
conduits for American interests to undermine Soviet power. Protestant
communities were heavily monitored in Soviet Ukraine. Many communities
went underground and led a clandestine existence. The resilience and
even growth of Evangelical communities in Soviet Ukraine prompted some
of the harshest repressive measures meted out to religious communities
including Gulag imprisonment and internal exile to remote regions of
the Soviet Union
RELIGIOUS PLURALISM IN UKRAINE
When the USSR collapsed in 1991, many religious groups rerouted or
established a base on Ukrainian soil. Three key factors made the
religious landscape in Ukraine evolve in a significantly different way
than it did in Russia. First, in Ukraine, religious pluralism emerged
within Orthodoxy itself. Although the Orthodox organizational pattern
is one church serving one people, and usually within one state, in the
1990s there were three Orthodox churches all claiming to serve Ukraine
[Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate [[UOC-MP],
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate [UOC-KP], and the
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church [UAOC]]. There are currently
two canonically recognized Orthodox churches serving Ukraine, the
Orthodox Church of Ukraine [OCU] and the UOC-MP, as opposed to one for
a single territory, which is highly unusual. This represents a break
with the Orthodox ethno-territorial model of institutional
organization.
Second, the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church [UGCC], an Eastern-rite
Catholic church that recognizes the authority of the Pope, allows
married priests and uses a Byzantine liturgy like the Orthodox, is also
understood to be an authentically national church. Both Orthodoxy and
Greek Catholicism are considered attributes of Ukrainian national
culture and indigenous to Ukraine. However, no one jurisdiction of
Orthodoxy or the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church enjoys a privileged
political or popular position over other confessional groups.
Third, this inherent pluralism within Orthodoxy and multiple
national churches means that legislative policies adopted in Ukraine
after 1991 did not serve the interests of a single religious
institution. No single church was assured state privileges and
protections. Additionally, over time the Ukrainian state did not seek
to, and was even not able to, control religious activity as civil
society became more robust. As a result, a wide spectrum of religious
groups either were founded or expanded in Ukraine. Evangelical
communities, in particular, benefited from extensive American
missionizing and the resources of their American counterparts and grew
significantly. They began to shed many of the negative connotations
that had been previously attached to evangelicals as a "dangerous
sectarian cult" of foreign origin.
Although Evangelicals are currently no more than four percent of
the population, their presence, impact, and influence in political life
far outpaces what such numbers would suggest. A number of Evangelicals
rose to political prominence. Oleksandr Turchynov, a Baptist, became
Acting President of Ukraine during a critical turning point after the
Maidan protests ended. Leonid Chernovetskyi, the mayor of Kyiv from
2006-2012, was an active participant in a Pentecostal church that had
churches across Ukraine and at one time boasted a membership of 25,000,
making it the largest evangelical church in Europe. Many humanitarian,
educational, publishing, and missionary centers across a broad spectrum
of faith groups established a base in Ukraine that served the broader
Eurasian region, including Russia. In sum, multiple national churches
that blocked the emergence of a single, state-protected church to
dominate public and political life allowed freedom of religion and
religious pluralism to become part of Ukraine's political culture. This
is not the case in Russia and is no longer the case in the occupied
territories.
RUSSIAN RATIONALE FOR REPRESSING EVANGELICALS IN THE OCCUPIED
TERRITORIES SINCE 2014
After 2014, Protestant communities in the Donbas were by far the
most targeted group for repression, expulsion, and even torture. The
city of Donetsk alone was home to a Christian University, Christian
publishing centers, a seminary, humanitarian assistance programs, and
other Baptist and Evangelical Christian initiatives that served all of
Ukraine and the successor states of the former Soviet Union as well.
Two reasons largely explain why Russian occupation yields persecution
of all non-ROC religious communities and why particularly harsh
treatment has been leveled at Evangelicals in the occupied territories
of Ukraine since 2014.
The first reason for targeting Evangelicals is the long-standing
charge of Baptists, Evangelical Christians, and other Protestants as
"foreign agents," "American spies," or "dangerous sectarians." They are
suspected of undermining Russian state power by introducing alleged
Western liberalism and decadence into Russian society.In response to
the perceived threat foreign ideas infiltrated by Evangelical
communities pose and to stem this Western influence in the "near
abroad," as the territories of the former Soviet Union are called, the
leader of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev began
to propagate the "Russian World" [Russkii Mir] ideology. The concept of
a Russian World, founded on Russian Orthodoxy, the Russian language,
and Russian culture, categorically denies the very possibility of an
independent, autonomous Ukrainian nation and church. It is used by the
Russian state and clerical officials to justify the reconstitution of
the imperial vision of all Eastern Slavs under one church led by the
Moscow patriarch and politically led by the president of the Russian
Federation. Some separatist soldiers in eastern Ukraine politically
loyal to Moscow initially called themselves an "Orthodox Army."
A goal of the Russian World is the promotion and
institutionalization of anti-Western, Orthodox conservatism, which
celebrates traditional values, especially as they relate to gender and
sex roles and identities. To do so, the ROC sponsors a variety of
family, sport, and militarized youth programs. These are means by which
church and state leaders work in concert to craft a militarized
religious aesthetic and institutionalize certain ethical and moral
practices that inform social and political life in Russia.
This vision of the Russian World was incorporated into the self-
proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" [DPR]. Its 2014 constitution
states that DNR recognizes "itself to be an integral part of the
Russian World as well as Russian civilization confessing to the
Orthodox faith [the Faith of Christian Orthodox Catholic Eastern
Confession]." Asserting that the Orthodoxy of the Moscow Patriarchate
is irreconcilable with all other religions, the leaders of DPR have
heavily repressed non-Orthodox believers as apostates. By virtue of
being born in the Donbas, one is Orthodox. Accepting another faith
tradition is to betray one's nation and commit apostasy. Orthodoxy, as
the antithesis to the West and the bulwark against a "Gayropa" agenda,
has become part of the official political doctrine of Russia.
Therefore, it was implemented in the Donetsk People's Republic and the
Lugansk People's Republic, two territories annexed to Russia and now is
imposed on the occupied territories under Russian rule.
Harassment goes beyond Protestants to include the Ukrainian
Catholic Church [UCC] and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine [OCU] because
of their so-called nationalist proclivities. Both churches have a
national presence and claim to serve the Ukrainian people. Even the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church [UOC-MP], which remains institutionally
subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate, has had some of its parishes
and monasteries incorporated into dioceses of the Russian Orthodox
Church [ROC] in Crimea and the Luhansk region since 2014, and more
recently in the occupied zones of Kherson and Zaporizhzhiya regions.
Overall, the Russian Orthodox Church remains an enthusiastic supporter
of Russia's "Special Military Operation," even though the war kills
Orthodox believers and destroys in great number of Orthodox churches
and monasteries that are institutionally linked to the Moscow
Patriarchate, because it is a means to realize the Russian World. This
ideology brings Russian speakers into the Orthodox fold and is a means
of influencing other predominantly Orthodox countries and garnering
their political allegiance.
CONSEQUENCES OF REPRESSION DIRECTED AT EVANGELICALS IN OCCUPIED UKRAINE
Evangelicals in the occupied territories, as apostates to their
native Orthodox faith, traitors to their nationality, and "foreign
agents" of Western individualism and liberalism, have been subject to
searches, abductions, interrogations, unlawful detainment, and torture.
They have had their personal property confiscated, their families
threatened, and have been subject to mock executions. Baptist and
Pentecostal pastors have been pressured to transfer their affiliations
from religious organizations based in Kyiv to ones based in Russia.
Since the full-scale invasion, over forty clergy have faced reprisals
and five have been killed. Residents of eight Ukrainian regions report
religious persecution and other violations of religious freedom while
under occupation: Zaporizhzhia [47 cases], Kherson [20 cases], Luhansk
[13 cases], Donetsk [11 cases], Kyiv [9 cases], Kharkiv [5 cases],
Chernihiv [3 cases] and Odesa [1 case]. As a result, many Evangelical
clergy and believers were forced to flee or left out of fear. Russian
Federal Law 114, the Yarovaya law passed in 2016, is so broadly
construed so as to allow Evangelicals to be charged with extremism or
"illegal missionary activities."
By December 2023, not even two years into the war, over 630
churches and religious buildings had been destroyed or damaged. At
least 206 were Protestant. In occupied Donetsk, there were at least 146
documented cases; in Luhansk at least 83; in Kherson at least 78; and
in Zaporizhzhia at least 51. Other religious buildings were looted and
then converted to profane uses, such as arsenals, police headquarters,
and United Russia offices, which, of course, is a violation of
international law that prohibits the forcible use of religious
buildings for military purposes. Russian occupation authorities require
churches to reregister, only to deny registration and force closure.
Only a few Protestant churches remain open in the occupied Donetsk
region, and there are parts of Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions where
not a single Protestant church remains open. Melitopol, a city in
southern Ukraine, prior to 2022 had more Protestant prayer houses than
Orthodox churches. Not a single Protestant church remains.
There is little to suggest that such repressive measures against
Evangelical believers and their communities will cease. In fact, the
reverse is likely. As harsh as restrictions are on Evangelical
communities in Russia proper, they are measurably worse in occupied
Ukraine. The war has inspired doctrinal change within Ukrainian
evangelical groups. Whereas previously most espoused an Anabaptist
aversion to violence and performed alternative military service, now,
having declared this a Just War of self-defense, many Evangelicals
serve in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Previous networks of cooperation
and associations of all kinds--missionary, humanitarian, educational,
and the like--that united Ukrainian and Russian Evangelicals in common
endeavors have been shattered as a result of the war. This is true for
nearly all religious associations and networks that linked Russian and
Ukrainian believers from a broad cross-section of confessions, with the
exception of the UOC-MP, although the institutional connections linking
this jurisdiction to the Moscow Patriarchate are evolving and changing
too.
In sum, the occupation of Ukrainian territories by Russian-
controlled forces has ushered in religious repression, especially of
Evangelicals, because the Russian state advocates entirely different
policies toward non-Russian Orthodox Church religious communities. This
is a long-standing practice and is unlikely to change under the current
leadership in Russia. The goal of democratizing Ukraine and its allies
is to ensure that religious freedoms, tolerance for religious
diversity, and religious pluralism are not additional causalities of
this war. Russia and its President Vladimir Putin must be held
accountable for their numerous war crimes in Ukraine so that they will
be deterred from further attempts to use religion to inspire violence
and to repress and dominate others as they are doing in the occupied
territories of Ukraine.
TESTIMONY OF MARK SERGEEV UKRAINIAN PASTOR AND WITNESS TO WAR CRIMES
It is a great honor for me to speak to the Helsinki Commission. The
work of the Commission is well known in Ukraine, and I am grateful for
the work the Commission does on behalf of Ukrainians fighting for their
freedom.
Last week I was on the frontline in Chasiv Yar in my role as a
chaplain for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These battles are horrible,
and the men and women fighting for Ukraine need spiritual guidance and
emotional care, I am proud to guide them and care for them.
Every Ukrainian soldier at the front is thankful for American
weapons. They fire Javelins all day and fall asleep to the sound of
HIMARS firing at Russian positions. The soldiers sleep well.
The same Iranian drones that the Russians use to attack Kyiv also
attack Israel. And it is American technology that keeps us both safe.
My journey from the Ukrainian front to speak to you today began
four generations ago. My great-grandparents were evangelical Christians
who were killed by Stalin for being Christians. My grandparents and
parents hid their faith from the Soviet authorities in fear for their
lives.
I was born into a free Ukraine where we could worship as we please.
I grew up in Melitopol, a small city on the Azov Sea known as the gates
to Crimea. My father was the senior pastor at Melitopol Christian
Church, the largest in our city. I was the youth pastor and worship
leader. American visitors often compared us to Joel Osteen's Lakewood
Church in Houston. We ministered to 1500 people every week. Four
hundred children attended Sunday school. We were the spiritual home to
hundreds of Ukrainian families.
Before the war, we all aspired to the Ukrainian dream which is not
so different from the American dream. Every year our country got better
as we threw off the corrupt Russian influences through peaceful means.
However, Putin does not respond by peaceful means.
On February 24, 2022, Russian tanks rolled into my city. I watched
them from the window of our church.
Two weeks later the Russians came to my home.
Soldiers pulled me out of my house in my underwear and threw me
face-first on the ground. My nine-year-old son woke up to a Russian AK-
47 in his face.
Russians are making a weapon out of religion, and they tried to
make my father use his role as a spiritual leader in our community to
praise their invasion of our city. They told him he had 72 hours to
record a video saying that now we are all Russians and part of Russia.
They wanted him to give them a list of businesspeople in Melitopol who
supported our church.
They told him that every day he waited, they would cut one of his
fingers.
Through the fog of war and the miracle of God, they did not come
back with their knives.
However, they took our church from us. A forty-foot cross clearly
showed us to be a Protestant church. The Russians cut down the cross
and replaced it with a Russian flag. Our massive auditorium, once used
to praise God, is now used for Russian military concerts and to
celebrate Russian holidays.
We were lucky to escape. Our journey to freedom involved a 35-mile
drive through a dozen Russian checkpoints that took all day.
Before the war, we had 40 Evangelical churches in Melitopol. Today
there are none. This is a common story across occupied Ukraine. The
only churches left are those who are loyal to Moscow rather than God.
My parents lived through the Soviet Union. They say the conditions
today in Russian-occupied Ukraine are worse for believers than they
were in Soviet times.
I encourage the Commission to go to RussiaTorturesChristians.org
where they can see video of our church before the war, security camera
video of the Russians breaking into our church in the dead of night,
and Russian TV footage of the Melitopol Christian Church being used for
Russian patriotic ceremonies.
I will close with the story of my friend Lena. After the Russians
shut down all the churches in our city, believers began to worship
underground in small groups, much like the early Christian church.
Lena was a small group leader and a rock of stability in our
shattered church community.
Two months ago, the Russian security services came to her home and
arrested her for her faith, for tending to the spiritual needs of
believers, for being an evangelical Christian.
Lena is still in a Russian prison in occupied Donetsk region.
Last night I was fortunate to have a conversation with an American
Christian leader. He told me of his concerns about the Ukrainian
government persecuting Christians.
Fortunately, I was able to help him understand the truth, that he
was hearing Russian propaganda, and the real truth is that Russia is
torturing, oppressing and sometimes murdering Ukrainian Christians in
my city and across occupied Ukraine simply for being Christians.
I am only one voice, and the voices against mine are powerful. I am
grateful to the Commission for giving my voice power and helping
Americans and the world know the truth of Russia's horrible oppression
of Ukrainian believers.
TESTIMONY OF STEVEN MOORE FOUNDER, UKRAINIAN FREEDOM PROJECT
Thank you for the honor of testifying before this Commission today.
I once was chief of staff to a member of House leadership, but this is
the first time I've been a witness. Therefore, I particularly
appreciate the opportunity to be a part of your great work.
As a former staffer, I also want to compliment the knowledge and
professionalism of the Commission staff. The work of the Helsinki
Commission is respected in Ukraine, in part because of the personal
relationships the staff have developed there.
Five days after Russia's full-scale invasion, I went to Ukraine to
try to help Ukrainian friends get to safety and provide humanitarian
goods. I created the Ukraine Freedom Project and brought medical
supplies to Kyiv when that city was almost surrounded by Russians. We
got food to Kharkiv while it was under siege. I was one of the first
wave of people at Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital earlier this month.
In my two in half years living in Ukraine at war, I have seen and
heard many things that nobody should. Even so, it is only a fraction of
what Ukrainians are going through. Some of the most horrific stories
I've heard are from Ukrainian Christians who have been tortured by
Russians.
Russians occupying Ukrainian territory seek to systematically crush
faith. Millions of Christians in occupied Ukraine are worshipping
underground, in fear of torture and prison for their beliefs.
Protestants make up less than four percent of Ukraine's population,
but Protestants have borne the worst of the Russian abuse.
To fully understand why, you must understand the role of the
Russian Orthodox Church, which is not a church as we would think of
one, but a working arm of the Kremlin. Patriarch Kirill, leader of the
Russian Orthodox Church, recently declared a holy war on Ukraine and
the West. He promised that Russians who die fighting in Ukraine will
have all their sins washed away. He stopped short of offering 72
virgins, but the strategy of creating martyrs is much the same as ISIS.
Russians see Protestants as Believers in an American religion and
think they must be agents of America, like Russian Orthodox priests,
are agents of the Kremlin.
I first became aware of the Russian torturing of Ukrainian
Christians in 2022, when Viktor Chernaiivsky told me of his torture.
Viktor was a pastor in Luhansk and had been evacuating people from
occupied areas. Viktor was leaving with a group that included a newborn
infant and a pregnant woman when he was pulled over by Russians and
"taken to the basement."
"Taken to the basement" is a euphemism for torture.
Viktor spent 25 days in the basement, including one day when he was
tortured with an electrical taser while a Russian Orthodox priest stood
over him trying to cast demons out of him for being an evangelical
Christian.
Viktor's story is far from unique.
Only days into the occupation of his city, the Russian FSB came for
Oleksandr Salfetnikov, pastor of the Light of the Gospel Baptist
Church. The Russians beat him with rubber batons for three days, trying
to make him confess to working for the CIA. When they released him, he
had to be wheeled out. His assistant pastor did not survive his
torture.
We have collected many similar testimonies on our website,
RussiaTorturesChristians.org.
However, most Ukrainian Christians cannot speak out. One Ukrainian
believer who escaped to Poland told us that after he went public with
his torture, a Russian FSB agent in his still-occupied hometown called
him and told him what his teenage niece wore to school that day.
Russians are trying to overtly destroy Christianity in Ukraine. In
America, Russia's work to cover it up and spread false narratives to
mislead Christians is active and ongoing.
Right here on Capitol Hill, Russian money is behind the effort to
persuade members of Congress that the Ukrainian government is
persecuting Christians.
The Commission's excellent work on this subject in 2023 helped the
world understand why this is Russian-inspired nonsense. Let me review.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, for decades the branch of the
Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, is home to thousands of clergies
who spent much of their lives reporting to Patriarch Kirill in Moscow.
About 100 of these clergy are either in prison or on trial for
espionage-related offenses. This is just scratching the surface of the
national security threat. Ukraine Freedom Project polling of Ukrainians
shows that hundreds of thousands of people have left the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church because they heard their local clergy say things
against Ukraine or saw them do things to help the Russian war effort.
Yet, a Russian-Ukrainian oligarch who is currently a deacon in the
Russian Orthodox Church is paying a team of international lawyers and
American lobbyists hundreds of thousands of dollars to spread this
false narrative inside Congress and cover up for Russian crimes against
Ukrainian Christians.
Prominent members of the media--and even some Members of Congress--
continue to tell Americans that the Ukrainian government persecutes
Christians.
To understand the extent to which Russian propaganda has penetrated
American media, the Ukraine Freedom Project polled Republican primary
voters on their attitudes toward Russia.
A quarter of Republican primary voters agreed with the statement
Russia is a country that promotes and encourages traditional family
values. Russia is the country that tortures Christians. Russia is the
country that uses rape as a weapon of war. Russia, the country that
brags about kidnapping hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children.
promotes traditional family values.
We polled how they got this information. Twenty five percent of all
Republican voters believe this narrative. Among those who get their
news from Tucker Carlson, Thirty eight percent believe Russia promotes
traditional family values. Among those who get their news from Joe
Rogan, it is forty seven percent. Perhaps most indicative of the degree
to which our adversaries are collaborating, among TikTok users it is
thirty five percent.
I thank this Commission for giving me today's opportunity to
highlight the stories of so many brave Ukrainians who have suffered for
their faith and their country and to highlight the work of my
organization to help Ukrainians and to tell their stories at the hands
of the Russians.
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