Putin’s War on Faith: 500 Ukrainian Churches Destroyed
In a basement somewhere in occupied Ukraine, Christians gather in whispers. Their church is gone now – one of hundreds destroyed since Russia’s war began. According to UNESCO’s latest verification, 468 cultural sites have been damaged or destroyed, including 145 religious buildings. But the destruction of buildings is just the beginning.
“Russia’s Tsarist-style government, along with its chief enforcer, the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarch, is the archetype of state control and oppression, and communities of faith are the battlegrounds,” states International Christian Concern’s 2025 Global Persecution Index, which tracks religious persecution worldwide.
The numbers are overwhelming. The Russian Army, and proxies such as Chechen fighters, have targeted over 500 church congregations and Christian ministry groups. Observers say Putin is systematically dismantling the diverse religious landscape that set Ukraine apart from its larger Russian neighbor.
So great is the attack on Evangelical and other churches, PBS News reported on it (below).
Putin’s war on the church ‘criminalizing faith”
Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern, sees this as part of a calculated strategy. “Criminalizing faith: Russian authorities now target religious speech, literature and missionary activities, branding them as ‘extremist’ to control and suppress non-Russian Orthodox Christian practices,” King explains.
The crackdown has now reached into Russia itself. Late last year, the Russian parliament introduced legislation that would effectively ban religious services in residential buildings, threatening the existence of house churches that have become havens for many faithful. Even church home groups are banned.
Meanwhile, in actions decried by the broader worldwide Christian community, the Russian Orthodox Church has become an unabashed supporter of the Kremlin’s war efforts. The move provides Putin with the spiritual justification he sought. It’s also destroying any semblance of religious plurality inside Russia.
Same pattern of persecution
Putin has repeatedly used the same pattern in attacking the church. According to the 2025 Global Persecution Index, released this week by ICC, at least 43 pastors, priests, Christian teachers and others have been kidnapped, murdered, and even tortured in occupied territories of Ukraine. Metro Voice has previously reported on the destruction. Now, almost three years since Russia’s invasion, estimates of destroyed or damaged church and ministry-related sites approach 650.
In occupied areas, Christians face violent crackdowns from Russian forces. Many congregations have gone underground, meeting in small groups to avoid detection. The alternative for most is often arrest, interrogation by Russian intelligence forces, torture or death.
But while many denomination heads have commented on the actions of the Russian Orthodox Church, response overall remains muted. Human rights groups say the religious persecution is at critical mass. It’s not just about destroyed churches, and disappeared pastors, its about the very loss of the concept of religious freedom once taken for granted across the region.
For those monitoring religious freedom globally, the parallels with Soviet-era persecution are clear. Putin is employing modern innovations in the crackdown, including state-of-the-art surveillance, social media and monitoring, baseless arrests and interrogations and legislation the provides a veneer of legitimacy to authoritarian control of the population.
The implications reach far beyond Ukraine’s borders.
“In many authoritarian states, Christianity is seen as a proxy for Western influence and values, which regimes often reject as imperialistic or destabilizing,” King told Fox News Digital. “Christianity and other faiths emphasize allegiance to a higher moral authority, which inherently challenges authoritarian regimes that demand complete loyalty to the state.”
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice
