During the ongoing war against Ukraine, Russia not only represses people in the occupied territories based on religious affiliation, but also uses religious topics to discredit Ukraine – that’s according to a report by the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), DW wrote.
“Russia continues to weaponize religion in an effort to discredit Ukraine in the international arena and is using information operations about religion to advance military objectives,” the report says.
Repression in the occupied territories
According to ISW, at least 76 acts of religious persecution have been committed by the Russian military or occupation authorities since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
At least 26 places of worship were closed, nationalized, or forcibly transferred to the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), at least 29 priests or religious leaders were killed or captured, and at least 13 places of worship in the occupied territories were looted, desecrated, or deliberately destroyed.
“These cases of religious repression are not likely isolated incidents but rather part of a deliberate campaign to systematically eradicate “undesirable” religious organizations in Ukraine and promote the Moscow Patriarchate,” ISW notes.
Most of the repressions target the OCU and Protestants
Priests and believers with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) are most subject to repression. Some 34 percent of known cases of religious persecution were directed specifically against the OCU, despite the fact that the Kremlin positions itself as a “defender of Christianity in general and Eastern Orthodoxy in particular.” The ISW believes that the Russian Federation is conducting a targeted campaign to destroy it.
Other denominations “that are distinctly culturally Ukrainian” are also subjected to numerous persecutions, in particular the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC). There are also many reports of the persecution of Protestants. Some 34 percent of persecutions concerned Protestants, the most – Baptists (13 percent).
“Russia’s systematic religious persecution supports a larger Russian campaign of cultural genocide against Ukraine,” analysts note.
Using Easter for speculation
It is not ruled out by the ISW that on the eve of Orthodox Easter, which will be celebrated on April 16, Russia will again call for a truce, just as it did on Christmas. President Putin may call for a ceasefire in order “to frame Ukraine as unaccommodating and unwilling to take the necessary steps towards negotiations,” the institute notes, adding that Kyiv’s potential refusal will contribute to the information operation run by the Russian Federation regarding the so-called “religious persecution” in Ukraine.
At the same time, analysts emphasize that no combatant is obliged to agree to a ceasefire for religious or any other reasons. “[T]he Kremlin will not thereby have demonstrated any greater devotion to the defense of Christianity or Christian values nor shown that Kyiv rejects those values. Putin will merely have demonstrated, once again, his cynicism,” ISW summarizes.
