For years, Vladimir Putin’s propagandists have campaigned to convince America’s Christians that he is a defender of Christendom, a figure out of the crusades riding shirtless on horseback, sword in hand, charging the woke hordes. This approach has proved effective. In an April 2024 poll from the Ukraine Freedom Project, a quarter of Republican voters agreed with the statement: “Russia is a country that promotes and encourages traditional family values.”
In reality, of course, Putin’s Russia is not a shining example of traditional family values. Russia ranks second in the world for alcoholism, third for divorce, and has one of the highest rates of abortion on the planet. Only three percent of Russians go to church weekly, preferring to visit psychics and sorcerers. Russians spend more on occult services than on groceries.
This kind of distortion does not come cheaply. Russia invests as much as $2.4 billion annually on propaganda worldwide. We don’t know how much of that targets American conservative Christians, but a 2024 US Justice Department investigation showed that one Russian shell company paid $10 million to just six conservative American social media influencers.
Powerful New Documentary
The good news is that even against this flood of Russian money and lies, the truth still works. We have recently produced a documentary, A Faith Under Siege, that features American believers talking to Ukrainian Christians who are suffering at the hands of the Russians for their faith. These firsthand accounts are powerful. Our screenings in America often end in tears.
The emotional impact of the film is in large part due to the talent of our Ukrainian filmmakers. Director Yaroslav Lodygin and cinematographers Kirill Gonchar and Sofiia Buhrii not only made beautiful images, but found locations with deep meaning such as the Zaporizhzhian Sich and Kyiv’s St. Sophia’s Cathedral. Executive producer Anna Shvetsova had the unenviable job of calling Ukrainian Christians who had been tortured or lost loved ones and persuading them to talk on camera about the worst thing that ever happened to them.
After two 1500 mile trips filming around Ukraine and months of post-production by Mighty Films in New York, A Faith Under Siege premiered at the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC on May 6. The film has since been shown six times on the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), which reaches 650,000 American Christian households daily. Newsmax, America’s fastest growing cable network, has also broadcast it. Prominent conservative influencers have talked about A Faith Under Siege, ranging from Glenn Beck, who has the fourth largest radio audience in America, to Patriot Barbie, with a dedicated audience of around half a million.
The production of this movie was funded by Colby Barrett, an American Christian with no prior connection to Ukraine who felt called to tell this story. The promotion is funded by donations to the Ukraine Freedom Project. So far, we have gotten this message to hundreds of thousands of American Christians. With more promotional funding, we will reach millions.
Important Audience
Ukrainians may not fully appreciate the importance of religion in US Republican politics. Evangelical Christians are 38% of Donald Trump’s voting base. Put another way, evangelical Christians comprised 23% of all voters in the 2024 election. President Trump won the votes of 82% of that group. This powerful voting bloc has been targeted by Russian propaganda and has begun to turn against Ukraine.
Americans as a whole back Ukraine, but they are also losing interest in the war. A recent Harvard CAPS Harris poll found that Americans still support Ukraine in large numbers. Even 59% of Republicans favor continuing to provide weaponry and imposing sanctions. But when asked what issues are most important to them, Russia’s war on Ukraine did not make the top 28 issues.
Spiritual Connection
Highlighting the plight of people who worship God as they do gives American evangelicals an emotional and spiritual connection to Ukraine. It gives them a reason to take a second look at Ukraine. A reason to care.
This is not unique to evangelicals. Catholics make up 25% of those who voted for Trump in 2024. This is the culmination of the long ebb of Catholics away from the Democrats. In the seventies, most Catholics were stalwart Democrats, with two-thirds of Catholics voting for Republican President Richard Nixon’s opponent. By 2024, the Catholic vote had flipped, with 63% of Catholics backing Trump. Few American Catholics are aware that not a single Catholic priest remains in occupied Ukraine. Many priests have been imprisoned and tortured by the Russians. Scores of Catholic churches have been demolished. This is provocative information for US Catholics.
The accession of Pope Leo XIV brings new energy and influence to Catholics who care about freedom in Ukraine. One of his first meetings as pope was with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Another was with His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, with whom Pope Leo is said to have a good relationship. US Vice President JD Vance is a devout Catholic, as are many senior figures in the Trump administration. The influence of Pope Leo could be profound.
About 12% of Ukrainians identify as Catholics. Meanwhile, Protestants make up around 4% of Ukraine’s population. As more people learn of Russian religious persecution in occupied Ukraine, these Christian communities could play a key role in safeguarding the future of every Ukrainian.