Are the Russians Running an Influence Operation in Congress?

At least 7 European countries have taken actions against the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in their country. Republicans are asking AG Bondi to investigate the US branch of the ROC.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in Moscow was once a KGB operative. The FSB, the KGB’s successor, has built a Russian Orthodox Church inside its headquarters, the Lubyanka. Patriarch Kirill has declared a “Holy War” on Ukraine and the West, and told soldiers that if they die fighting in Ukraine, all their sins will be washed away.

Kirill stopped short of offering 72 virgins, but the Russian Orthodox Church’s weaponization of religion would make Hamas leaders proud.

Russian Orthodox Priests are blessing a nuclear missile with Holy Water. The name of the missile is “Satan.”

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is so intertwined with the Kremlin that Sweden, Finland, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and Bulgaria have all taken action against the branch of the Russian Orthodox Church inside their borders. Norway and the Netherlands are monitoring Russian Orthodox churches located in key national security areas.

Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church are meeting this week with the White House Office of Faith to discuss alleged persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP).

The reputation of the Russian Orthodox Church precedes them.

As such, a group of lawmakers, led by Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, have written a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi asking her to investigate “Russian Orthodox Church institutions operating within the United States, including the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR)” as to “whether the Russian Federation or its intelligence services have sought to recruit, leverage, influence, or otherwise compromise” their independence.

Laura Kelly from The Hill wrote a great piece about this today.

Kudos to Rep. Wilson and his allies for recognizing this threat. But why does the Russian Orthodox Church care about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarch?

Hard to say, given that the UOC-MP made a Facebook post claiming they are no longer part of the Russian Orthodox Church in May of 2022. They say they no longer report to Moscow. Yet Moscow defends them at every turn.

Russian/Ukrainian Oligarch Vadym Novynsky is currently a deacon in the Russian Orthodox Church in Zurich. He has hired attorney Robert Amsterdam to tell American policymakers that the UOC-MP is no longer associated with the Russian Orthodox Church. Again, a deacon in the Russian Orthodox Church is paying Amsterdam to tell people that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate is no longer connected to the church in which he is a deacon.

Amsterdam pays a former Democratic Congressman at Nelson Mullins, South Carolina’s largest law firm, some $400k per year to spread his false narrative on Capitol Hill. Russian money is driving this message on Capitol Hill.

Putin himself has made the cause of the UOC-MP part of his peace negotiations with Ukraine. Putin does not take rejection well… if the UOC-MP had actually betrayed Putin, rather than just making a Facebook post, he would treat them like others who have betrayed him.

A dozen or more of those who have betrayed Putin have been defenestrated. None of them were wearing Orthodox robes, so it seems Putin does not view the UOC-MP’s departure from the ROC as real.

This charade would be funny were it not causing the deaths of so many Ukrainians.

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With more than 8000 parishes and 4600 monasteries around Ukraine, the UOC-MP is an intelligence network.

Ukraine is home to about every faith you can find on the planet. The country is 85% Christian from nearly every denomination - two Orthodox churches, Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Baptists, Pentecostals, LDS, Lutherans, Presbyterians and more. Jewish communities flourished in southern and eastern Ukraine until the Russians invaded and chased them out. Ukraine is also home to Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and a host of other non-Western religions.

Only one church - the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - has scores of clergy on trial and in the justice system for espionage-related activity. No other clergy from any church, mosque or temple are on trial in Ukraine. This one church is considered such a serious security threat to Ukraine that eighty-five percent of Ukrainians want the government to do something about it.

With good reason. Politico reports that a Ukrainian Orthodox priest led Russian soldiers invading Bucha to the homes of Ukrainians most likely to oppose them, contributing to the mass grave in that city.

I worked with war crimes investigators in Izium, another city with a mass grave and plenty of horrors. The former Metropolitan (senior bishop) of Izium Diocese of the UOC-MP, Yelisey Ivanov, collaborated with the Russians. While Izium residents being tortured and buried in mass graves, Ivanov blessed Russian activities and preached pro-Russian narratives to his parishioners. Metropolitan Ivanov fled to Russia when the Ukrainian troops liberated Izium.

As recently as last summer, the 22-year-old daughter of a UOC-MP church rector was arrested in hotly-contested Pokrovsk for tracking Ukrainian troop movements with a camera she installed in the church dome.

These are the people who are visiting the White House this week.

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I have worked for years investigating Christian persecution in Ukraine. It is all by the Russians. Putin has destroyed more than 700 churches and murdered more than fifty pastors and priests. I can get on the phone right now several Ukrainian Christians who have been tortured by the Russians.

Our movie, A Faith Under Siege, has been shown on CBN, TBN and Newsmax and has inspired a series on Angel Studios. Don’t take my word for it - watch Ukrainians telling their story firsthand.

I have never been able to get an interview with anyone in the UOC-MP, but I have talked to many clergy who have left.

All of them say that the UOC-MP became too pro-Russian, and they had to leave. Many of them had horrible stories that prompted them to leave. Thousands of clergy have left. Twenty years ago, every Orthodox Christian in Ukraine would have said they were part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that reports to Moscow. Maybe 60% of Ukraine. Maybe 70%. Polls from that era are hard to find.

Today, only four to eight percent of Ukrainians identify with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that reports to the Russian patriarch. The church has gone from spiritual home to some 70% of Ukrainians to 80% of Ukrainians thinking the church is a national security threat.

And the Russian Orthodox Church is not just a national security threat to Ukraine.

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I wrote a very deep dive about this in September. The team at A Faith Under Siege has put together a great five minute explainer video. Have a look at them and let me know what you think.