Journalists collected the main religious theses of Russian propaganda for 2024
As noted, Russian propagandists have been actively promoting the thesis of “church persecution” in Ukraine:
The Ukrainian government is allegedly “curtailing religious freedoms”; attempts to limit the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in Ukraine are a “witch hunt”; and the West is leading Ukraine to “immorality and disaster” while Russia is defending “traditional values” in Ukraine. Such theses were voiced by the Kremlin's henchmen in 2024 and earlier regarding the religious situation in Ukraine.
Russian propaganda also tried to discredit the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and its activities in every possible way, throwing in a large number of fakes and manipulations about it. They claim that the OCU is not a real church, but the UOC-MP is. These messages were aimed at destabilizing the situation in Ukraine by splitting society.
The propagandists also reacted to the adoption of Bill No. 8371 in August 2024, banning the activities of religious organizations with a governing center in Russia. In particular, they claimed that Pope Francis had allegedly condemned this church law; information about Ukrainians' support for the ban on the UOC was “false”; and that “persecution of religion” was allegedly taking place in Ukraine. Such fake news was aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian government, trying to present it as undemocratic and repressive, and creating the illusion of persecution of the “canonical Church” in Ukraine. The propagandists say that the Zelensky regime infringes on the rights of religious communities and, therefore, Ukraine is not a full-fledged European state.
In general, the transition of religious communities from the UOC-MP to the OCU began in late 2018 after the creation of the latter. Subsequently, the catalyst for this process was the beginning of Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine, and in 2024, Bill No. 8371, which obliged religious organizations to sever ties with Moscow within nine months, acted as another spur. All this was accompanied by disinformation from supporters of the Russian World.
The propagandists wrote that concerts were now allegedly held in OCU churches instead of worship services; an Orthodox church in Lutsk was taken away from the UOC and converted into a laundromat; an OCU priest refused to perform funeral services for Ukrainian defenders baptized in the UOC-MP; and clergy in Ukraine are allegedly being repressed.
“This non-exhaustive list of what Russian propaganda lied about in 2024 demonstrates that Russians continue to look for sensitive topics within Ukrainian society. All in order to divide Ukrainians and facilitate the conquest of Ukraine by Russian troops. We hope that in 2025 and beyond, they will not succeed,” Detector Media emphasizes.
