Putin's anti-Catholic persecution in occupied Ukraine and a deafening silence

Catholics and other religious denominations are suffering persecution at the hands of the Russian invaders in occupied Ukraine.

A bishop denounces the persecution of Catholics in Russian-occupied Ukraine
Russia tortures and murders Christians in Ukraine: what many keep silent about and some applaud

A persecution denounced since the first months of the invasion

In August of last year you could already read here the denunciation of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic bishop Maksym Ryabukha about the persecution of Catholics in the parts of Ukraine occupied by the Russians. This persecution is not a recent event: On March 1, 2023, Religión en Libertad published the denunciation of a Greek Catholic priest from Melitopol, in the Zaporizhzhia oblast, who was expelled by the invaders in December 2022: "There are no longer any Catholic priests in the four regions occupied by the Russians", referring to Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.

Russia has damaged or destroyed 737 religious buildings in Ukraine

On March 6, International Christian Concern echoed a report by the Christian initiative Mission Eurasia titled "Continued war against faith: religious genocide in the occupied territories of Ukraine, 2022-2025". The 36-page report, published in English, provides data on various religious denominations persecuted by the invaders, including the Catholic Church.

The aforementioned report states this on page 10: "According to the Religion on Fire project, as of December 16, 2025, at least 737 religious buildings had been documented as damaged or destroyed as a result of Russian aggression" Most of these damaged or destroyed temples are located in the four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine and in the Kyiv region, which has been subjected to constant Russian attacks. On page 11, the report adds: "According to official estimates by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, as of spring 2025 Russian military forces had killed at least 67 clergy members, pastors, and monks from various denominations." Of the clergy killed, 28 were Orthodox and 26 belonged to various Protestant denominations—a staggering number, given that Protestant Christians are a minority in the country. It is a clear sign that Russia is targeting them.

Only 1 of the 64 Catholic parishes that existed in occupied Ukraine remains

On March 7, Catholic Arena echoed the data from that report pertaining to the Catholic Church. I've been reading the document, and this is what it states on page 18:

"Across the occupied territories, all Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) churches were closed, and the activities of the New Generation and Revival church movements, along with the vast majority of other Protestant churches, were banned (OI-11, 38, 50). According to monitoring by Mission Eurasia’s Religious Freedom project, in Melitopol alone the occupation authorities seized the buildings of 15 churches: 10 Protestant congregations, three Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) parishes, and two UGCC churches."

Page 21 of the report states: "Catholic presence has been almost entirely eliminated: of the 15 Roman Catholic parishes that existed prior to occupation, only one remains, and of the 49 parishes of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, none remain."

“A testing ground for the systematic suppression of religious freedom”

Mission Eurasia notes the following conclusion: "the occupied territories are being used not only as a space for military aggression, but also as a testing ground for the systematic suppression of religious freedom and the destruction of Ukraine’s religious, national, and cultural identity." According to Mission Eurasia's report, Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 foreshadowed the full-scale invasion that followed: "during the occupation of Crimea, the number of registered religious communities on the peninsula decreased from 2,083 to 907. Churches of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine have been confiscated or closed; the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people has been banned; and its members have been subjected to constant pressure, arrests, and politically motivated trials."

The deafening silence of some Catholics in the face of this persecution

The most astonishing aspect of this persecution against Christians, and particularly against Catholics, is the deafening silence of some Catholics regarding it. In Spain, Religión en Libertad and Vida Nueva have reported on this persecution. Spanish Catholics have also been able to learn about this through websites such as ACI Prensa and Gaudium Press. . However, Catholics who are particularly sensitive to anti-Christian persecution in other countries remain silent when Russia is the persecutor. Twitter accounts that post messages of outrage if any Jewish extremist attacks Christians (fanatical and hateful people exist in all religions) curiously say nothing when Russia launches a systematic persecution against Catholics in the occupied areas of Ukraine.

For years, my work on Counting Stars has denounced the pro-Russian sentiments of both the far left and the far right. It is precisely at the extremes where Russian propaganda is most successful, and it is also there that anti-Semitism is particularly strong. This explains why some pro-Russian groups try to convince us that the problem is in Israel (a country where Catholics enjoy religious freedom comparable to that of any other democratic country) and not in Russia (a dictatorship that uses the Russian Orthodox Church as a religious arm of the state against other faiths), and also explains the spread of hoaxes such as the one claiming that Ukraine has banned Christianity, a lie that circulated widely among the Spanish far right (also among some who call themselves Catholic).

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Photo: TASS.