In Russian-Occupied Ukraine, You’re Free to Worship Vladimir Putin

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The Kremlin’s religious registration rules in occupied Ukraine are intended to snuff out freedom of religion.

In Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, a once diverse and free religious ecosystem is being filtered into one faith: the cult of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Prior to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kherson region had one of the highest levels of religious pluralism in the country, boasting more than 38 faiths across 990 religious organizations. In just four years, the number of registered religious organizations has plummeted to 175. Of those remaining, 86 percent are registered to the Kremlin-aligned Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). 

Putin’s subjugation of religious freedom is a deliberate attempt to turn Christian belief into divine legitimacy for his illegal invasion. And Moscow’s weapon of choice in this unholy war is an unassuming bureaucratic tool: registration. 

In occupied Ukraine, any place of worship must re-register itself under Russian law to own or lease property, hold public worship, conduct missionary activity, or open bank accounts. Churches that have continued to operate while unregistered have faced fines, raids, forced closure, and even arrests and executions by Russian occupiers. 

Russia’s Administrative Code prohibits “missionary activity” by unregistered organizations, with harsher punishments for foreigners. Officials routinely conflate unregistered churches that hold regular prayer meetings or services with missionary work. To register, a church must provide the Kremlin with the contact details, addresses, ages, and citizenships of churchgoers. 

Putin’s primary........

© The National Interest