Bipartisan Bill Targets Russian Religious Persecution in Ukraine, Excludes One Orthodox Group

A group of bipartisan U.S. lawmakers introduced the Countering Russia’s War on Faith Act on Thursday, according to a statement from Republican South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson, who sponsored the bill. The legislation requires the secretaries of state and defense to collaborate with the director of national intelligence to produce a joint report on Russia's suppression of religious liberties in occupied territories of Ukraine.

The bill also directs the president to impose sanctions on individuals found responsible for violating religious freedoms.

The act identifies specific groups facing persecution, including Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Crimean Tatar, and Orthodox Christian communities not aligned with the Russian Orthodox Church.

It does not include the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has reported facing arrests of leaders, church seizures, and threats of liquidation in Ukraine, as well as co-option and persecution in Russian-occupied areas. Ukrainian Orthodox Church leaders have stated that they maintain only canonical ties with the Russian Orthodox Church and are no longer under its administrative control.

The bill states that more than 600 religious buildings have been destroyed or damaged since 2022, and that Russia has killed more than 50 Ukrainian religious leaders. According to a report from Mission Eurasia as of spring 2025, Russia had killed 67 Ukrainian clergy by the end of 2025, with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church accounting for 22 deaths, Pentecostals for 14, and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine for six.

A separate database from December 2025 reported 54 civilian clergy deaths, with similar distributions among groups. By the end of 2023, at least 630 religious buildings had been destroyed by Russian forces, with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church suffering 187 instances, more than three times the destruction of Orthodox Church of Ukraine sites, according to the Institute for Religious Freedom.

Don Bacon stated that the act would enable authorities to hold perpetrators accountable and described Russia's invasion as including a campaign to suppress religious communities, according to Wilson's press release. Sheldon Whitehouse said that Russian forces have bombed places of worship, murdered clergy, and persecuted communities not aligned with the Russian Orthodox Church.

A Democratic Ohio Rep. stated that Russia has destroyed over 600 churches, synagogues, mosques, and places of worship in Ukraine since the war began. Steven Moore and Colby Barrett, producers of the documentary 'A Faith Under Siege,' said Russia is disappearing, torturing, and killing pastors, destroying churches, and isolating religious communities in occupied territories.

Viktor Yelensky, head of Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, expressed doubt that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is unaffiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church and pointed to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, founded in 2019 and recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

occupied areas, all religions face oppression and must appease authorities or worship underground, according to reports. Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Russia eliminated all Orthodox Church of Ukraine communities in occupied Crimea and annexed eight Ukrainian Orthodox Church dioceses to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The bill notes that the Russian Orthodox Church, led by Patriarch Kirill, has described the invasion as a holy war and stated that soldiers dying in combat have their sins washed away. During an August visit to Ukraine, the Daily Caller reported difficulties in obtaining specific information from occupied territories due to censorship and fear of retaliation.