Floor Remarks by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Senate President Pro Tempore
“Religious Freedom in Ukraine”
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
I understand that representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church are on Capitol Hill this week falsely claiming persecution by the Ukrainian Government.
This is because of a law requiring churches in Ukraine to stop taking directions from the Patriarch in Moscow who was a KGB agent and reports directly to Vladamir Putin.
Two years ago, I met with Ukrainian faith leaders in my office, about 30 of them, from many backgrounds, including Orthodox, Catholic, Evangelical, Jewish and Muslim.
They told me everyone in Ukraine can freely practice their religion.
But in occupied Ukraine, Russians have turned churches into a secular Russian “Ministry of Culture.” They’ve also tortured pastors, and the faithful are forced to worship in secret. That’s what I heard from religious leaders of Ukraine two years ago.
In September, I highlighted a report by the Free Russia Foundation, titled “The Russian Orthodox Church and the War.” That report showed how this body supports the invasion of Ukraine through propaganda, rituals for invaders, diplomatic manipulation and espionage.
The Atlantic Council hosted an event about the Free Russia Report featuring a discussion with Orthodox priests titled “How the Russian Orthodox Church supports the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.” You can view it online.
It’s no wonder that only between 4% to 8% of the Orthodox Ukrainians still identify with the Moscow church.
The overwhelming majority of Orthodox Ukrainians identify with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the first among equals in the Orthodox tradition.
The Ecumenical Patriarch is also head of the largest Orthodox church in the United States, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
So, we should listen to what he said in response to the Russian Patriarch blessing the war and claiming that Russian soldiers who die invading Ukraine will have their sins washed away.
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said this “It is damaging to the prestige of the whole of Orthodoxy because Orthodoxy doesn’t support war, violence, terrorism.”
Do not believe anyone who claims that the Russian Orthodox Church is somehow a victim of religious persecution in this war in Ukraine that was started when Russia invaded [in] February ‘22.
The Russian Orthodox Church is a leading perpetrator of the persecution of fellow Orthodox believers, as well as Catholics, Evangelicals and others.
You can learn about real religious persecution in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine at russiatortureschristians.org, and you can watch the documentary “A Faith Under Siege” on YouTube.
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