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The Kremlin continues to use long-standing false narratives that the Ukrainian government is oppressing religious liberties as a moral justification for its protracted war in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on April 22 at a Russian Orthodox Easter reception that one of Russia’s war goals in Ukraine is to protect the “honor and dignity” of Russian citizens, including their right to use the Russian language and practice the Orthodox faith. Lavrov claimed that Ukraine has persecuted the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP) for over a decade and accused the Ukrainian government of seizing churches and “attacking” UOC MP clergy and parishioners. The UOC MP is not an independent religious organization, but rather the Kremlin-controlled Russian Orthodox Church’s (ROC) subordinate element in Ukraine. The Kremlin has long used claims about the alleged discrimination of Russian people, the Russian language, and the ROC in Ukraine as a justification for invading Ukraine and for its continued refusal to engage in good-faith peace negotiations. The ROC is notably an element of Russia’s hybrid warfare toolkit, particularly in the Kremlin’s efforts to promote Kremlin narratives and Russian nationalist ideology to sustain and expand Russia’s influence in former Soviet states and justify its war-making initiatives. The ROC has also advocated for the codification of a Russian state ideology premised on the idea that Ukraine should not exist. Russia has additionally engaged in widespread persecution of religious minorities, including Orthodox believers, in occupied Ukraine as part of its wider campaign aimed at systematically destroying independent Ukrainian national and religious identities. Russian occupation authorities regularly conduct arbitrary detention and assassinations of Ukrainian clergy or religious leaders and loot, desecrate, and deliberately destroy places of worship. Lavrov’s April 22 claims demonstrate the Kremlin’s continued commitment to its original war aims and disinterest in negotiations to end the war. However, these claims are undermined by the realities of Russia’s treatment of religious minority communities in occupied areas.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Academy an honorary title celebrating the organizer of the Soviet campaign of mass arrests and executions. Putin awarded the FSB Academy the honorary title of Felix Dzerzhinsky, which was its name during Soviet times when the academy served as the Soviet Committee for State Security’s (KGB), the FSB’s predecessor, higher education institute. Dzerzhinsky notably organized the Bolshevik secret police (Cheka)’s Red Terror, a campaign of mass arrests, torture, and executions in Soviet Russia after the 1917 Revolution. The corresponding decree cites the “merits” of its personnel and Dzerzhinsky’s “outstanding contribution to ensuring national security” as the reason for the award. Putin’s decision to restore the academy’s historical name is a significant symbolic act, clearly demonstrating the Kremlin’s commitment to honoring Soviet-era repressive ideology. Putin’s personal endorsement of Dzerzhinsky’s methods of ensuring national security is consistent with Russian officials’ more recent practice of endorsing Stalin-era rhetoric, including Soviet repression policies, persecution of the Russian opposition, and the nationalization of Russia’s economy. The Kremlin has intensified such efforts against the backdrop of Russia’s war in Ukraine in an attempt to consolidate domestic control, mobilize Russian society for war, and compel disloyal Russian citizens and residents of occupied Ukrainian territories to support its war in Ukraine.
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