Religious policy of the Russian Federation as a weapon: museum scholars participated in an international conference

Director General of the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide Lesia Hasydzhak and Senior Researcher of the Department of Research on the Holodomor and Mass Man-Made Famines, Candidate of Historical Sciences Andriy Ivanets participated in the International Scientific and Practical Conference “Religious Policy of the Russian Federation as a Weapon of Hybrid War: Directions of Implementation and Countermeasures.”

The conference, attended by over 40 participants from Ukraine, the USA, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Canada, France and Belgium, took place in Kyiv on March 14.
The event was organised by the Research Institute of Ukrainian Studies of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, the Department of Religious Studies of the H.S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Institute of Religious Freedom, the Centre for Russian Studies, and other organisations and institutions.

The conference was attended by representatives of state bodies and institutions, religious communities, scientific institutions, think tanks, public associations and unions, and the media.

The conference included four thematic panels:

1. Legal challenges and strategies for countering the religious policy of the Russian Federation in the hybrid war
Moderators: Viktoriia Yarchak, Ivan Kolodiazhnyi (Prosecutor General’s Office).

2. Activities of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) abroad: a network of churches as centres for the dissemination of Russian propaganda
Moderators: Roman Dodonov, Kateryna Nastoyashcha (Research Institute of Ukrainian Studies of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv).

3. Destructive activities of the ROC and its satellites in Ukraine
Moderator: Andriy Ivanets (National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide).

4. Non-Orthodox confessions of the Russian Federation in the wake of the doctrine of the “Russian world”
Moderator: Liudmyla Fylypovych (H.S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences).

During the conference, speakers discussed the legal aspects of recording offences, the destructive activities of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, its work in favour of the enemy on the territory of Ukraine, and the role of non-Christian denominations in spreading rashist propaganda. In particular, Andriy Ivanets, a leading researcher at the Holodomor Museum, reported on the attitude of Buddhist organisations in Russia to the aggressive and genocidal war against Ukraine (you can find more details in Andriy Ivanets’ study).

The conference was attended by scholars, including religious scholars, lawyers, sociologists, historians, officials, legislators, and law enforcement officers. Among them were the former Chairman of the State Committee on Nationalities and Religions of Ukraine, Professor Oleksandr Sahan, First Deputy Chairman of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience Viktor Voinalovych, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, Director of the State Scientific Institution “Encyclopedic Publishing House,” Professor Alla Kyrydon, Director of the International Institute of Athos Heritage Serhii Shumylo, Doctor of Sociological Sciences Kateryna Nastoyashcha, Director of the Research Institute of Ukrainian Studies Roman Dodonov.

A number of foreign colleagues, both academics and representatives of international organisations, such as former World Bank and Canadian government employee Yurii Lutsenko, OSCE representative David Piguet, EU expert on global diaspora Andra-Lucia Martinescu, attended the conference. They told, in particular, many interesting atypical cases of the subversive activities of the Russian church, disguised strategies of its influence on individual communities to destabilise them.

Today, there are already many such cases in EU countries. It was essential to see that the destructive agent role of the ROC both abroad and in Ukraine is already recognised by those foreign colleagues who have been studying this issue for a long time and in detail.

The reports discussed not only the scale and alarming consequences of the problem but also potential solutions to address it—specifically regarding the legal and political conflicts in countering the formidable influence of Russian propaganda, particularly as represented by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). In this context, topics such as psychiatric evaluations, the need to develop critical thinking among the public, and the creation of effective information strategies were examined. The necessity of updating and promoting domestic myth-making products was also highlighted as a viable countermeasure.

The discussions are expected to lead to practical implementation in two strategic areas:

1. The first is improving the legislation and procedural sphere, conducting public control over compliance with the norms of current legislation and the implementation of court decisions.

2. The second is raising broad public awareness regarding the destructive role of the ROC and systematically communicating factual evidence about its subversive activities to our European partners and the wider European public. This will require extensive long-term effort.

The final resolution emphasised that Russia used religion as one of the key tools in its hybrid warfare aimed at undermining the national security of sovereign states, including Ukraine. It also stated that the ROC and other Russian religious institutions actively promoted the ideology of the “Russian world” and served as instruments of Russian propaganda. Furthermore, the ROC clergy is involved in intelligence activities, financing terrorist organisations, and manipulating religious sentiments.

Conference participants proposed concrete measures to counter Russian destructive policies in legislation, information, international cooperation, and security. The conference served as a crucial platform for developing mechanisms to combat Russian religious expansion, the enemy’s use of religion to justify and carry out aggression, genocide, and other serious international crimes, as well as strengthening Ukrainian national security.