Russians are Torturing Ukrainian Christians
Protestants are 4% of Ukraine's population but account for a third of the cases of persecution by the Russians. Ukraine Freedom Project polling shows U.S. believers are moved by this information.
Russian soldiers are systematically shutting down churches in the areas of Ukraine they control. At least 26 Christian leaders have been killed for their faith.
As one example, a Pentecostal pastor in occupied Kherson region was abducted along with his 19 year old son. Eyewitnesses to the abduction say the soldiers told the pastor “Your church has no right to exist, as it has connections with America.” Their bodies turned up four days later, almost too mutilated to be identified.
Torture of believers is commonplace. An evangelical Christian pastor from Luhansk was held by Russians for 25 days, tortured with electrical shocks and being beaten with a baseball bat. He says a Russian Orthodox priest was present during his torture and tried to cast the demons out of him in an exorcism that included a taser.
Protestants are targeted disproportionately. While Protestants make up about 4% of the Ukrainian population, they comprise more than a third of the documented incidents of Russian persecution.
Baptists are particularly hard hit. The Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary reports the loss of some 400 Baptist congregations since the beginning of the full scale Russian invasion.
Russians associate Protestants, particularly evangelicals, with the United States and think they are American spies. The Russian Orthodox Church is a working arm of the Kremlin, so Russian troops assume that Baptist and Pentecostal ministers are working for the American government. They arrest them, torture them and sometimes murder them.
Shedding light on these horrors is obviously good policy. It is also good politics for Republicans. G.O.P. primary voters are more likely to support aid to Ukraine when they receive this information.
The Ukraine Freedom Project polled GOP primary voters at the beginning of November. Here are a few of the questions on Russian persecution of Christians.
Now, please read the statements below and after you read each statement please indicate if it makes you more likely or less likely to support Congress authorizing additional funding to support Ukraine in the war with Russia, or if it makes no difference to you.
According to American Christian leaders, evangelical Christians are being persecuted and tortured by Russian soldiers in the areas of Ukraine that are occupied by Russia. Christians report torture with electrical shocks and being beaten with a baseball bat. Some bodies are too disfigured by torture to be easily identified.
All GOP Primary Voters - 63%
Evangelical Christians - 70%
More than 90,000 reports of rape and sexual abuse by Russian soldiers have been reported since February of 2022. Many of the victims are little boys and little girls.
All GOP Primary Voters - 66%
Evangelical Christians - 67%
Russians associate Evangelical Christians with America and single them out for abuse and torture.
All GOP Primary Voters - 57%
Evangelical Christians - 65%
If America stops military aid to Ukraine, millions of Ukrainians will be under the control of the Russians who are already persecuting and torturing Evangelical Christians, raping elderly women, and kidnapping Ukrainian children.
All GOP Primary Voters - 60%
Evangelical Christians - 65%
Although Protestant Christians make up less than 4% of Ukraine's population, they make up one-third of the reported incidents of persecution, torture, and abuse at the hands of Russian soldiers in occupied areas of Ukraine.
All GOP Primary Voters - 58%
Evangelical Christians - 65%
According to eyewitnesses, Russian soldiers have told Ukrainian Christians "Evangelical believers like you should be completely destroyed… a simple shooting will be too easy for you. You need to be buried alive."
All GOP Primary Voters - 58%
Evangelical Christians - 63%
The Ukraine Freedom Project commissioned Public Opinion Strategies to conduct a text-to-web survey of 679 Republican primary voters in 24 congressional districts. The survey was completed November 6-8, 2023 and has a credibility interval of +4.29% in 95 out of 100 cases.