Brownback: Russia's church-state ties complicate allegations about Ukrainian persecution

Ambassador Sam Brownback told the Transatlantic podcast that Russia's close ties between state and church have been used to exclude minority faiths, while Ukraine's situation is more complex given its wartime security concerns.

"In Russia, what you've seen is the Orthodox church... tied... to Vladimir Putin," Brownback said, describing how a state-favored or state-captured majority religion can push out groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses and some evangelicals.

On Ukraine, he said the country "is generally very free on religious freedom," but cautioned that Kyiv's efforts to break institutional ties to Moscow and to address suspected espionage within religious institutions can be controversial and open to exploitation by Russian propaganda. "You gotta tap that lightly... because you are going to get accused then of religious freedom violations," he said.

Brownback urged careful, evidence-based assessments of claims that Ukraine persecutes Christians. He said some allegations circulating in Washington are inaccurate and can be used as part of an information campaign by adversaries.

The episode does not include independent verification of specific allegations about individual incidents in Ukraine or Russia; the article reports the guest's judgments and advice as stated on the program.