In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll start a new series titled “Degenerate Russia”. In it, we look behind the Kremlin propaganda and see the real Russia – an authoritarian country that doesn’t care about its people and desperately tries to hold on to its imperialistic past.

1/22

In this first soup, we’ll examine religious persecution in Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine, how the KGB/FSB has used religion as a tool of espionage and propaganda, and how Russia is erasing Ukrainian culture by destroying the country’s churches.

2/22

Russia claims to be the last bastion of Christian tradition, but its history tells a different story. For decades, it has persecuted religious groups, tortured, imprisoned and murdered clergymen, bombed churches, and used the Orthodox Church as a state tool.

3/22

Despite claiming to be a Christian nation, Russia has repressed Christianity when it doesn’t serve the state. Under the USSR – and especially under Stalin – churches were demolished, priests executed, and believers sent to the Gulag. Today, this same persecution continues.

4/22

For example, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) isn’t in any way independent – it’s a Kremlin propaganda tool. Its leader, Patriarch Kirill, acts more like a government spokesperson, blessing war crimes, encouraging young men to fight & spreading state narratives worldwide.

5/22

The Orthodox Church is also a weapon for controlling religious groups, and priests who speak out against the war or the government are harassed or excommunicated. For example, Archpriest Andrei Kordochkin was suspended from service for his pacifist positions.

6/22

The Kremlin is aggressively persecuting non-Orthodox organizations. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have been banned since 2017 and its members are often arrested & imprisoned. Protestant communities are also harassed, with their churches raided by the FSB under bogus accusations.

7/22

Since annexing Crimea in 2014, Russia has targeted Crimean Tatars, a Muslim community. Mosques and schools have been shut down, leaders imprisoned, and people disappeared – labeled “terrorists” just for practicing their faith.

8/22

Crimean Tatars also face routine police raids, surveillance, and forced conscription into the Russian army. Their cultural and religious identity is under constant attack. And this is nothing new – under Putin’s beloved predecessor Stalin, nearly 200,000 Crimean Tatars were rounded up and deported en masse in the 1940s, with tens of thousands dying from starvation, disease, or exposure along the way.

9/22

Even smaller Christian sects, like Baptists and Evangelicals, face discrimination. The Kremlin often labels them as “Western agents,” and their worship services are disrupted, and their pastors are given fines and threatened with violence and/or imprisonment.

10/22

Russian antisemitism runs DEEP. The “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” a fabricated antisemitic text, was promoted by the Russian Empire and later weaponized by the Soviets. Today, state media still regularly peddles antisemitic conspiracies.

11/22

Putin’s regime claims to be “anti-Nazi,” yet its propaganda is riddled with Nazi-style antisemitic tropes. From blaming Jews for revolutions to pushing conspiracies like the Great Reset, Russia continues its long tradition of state-sponsored hate.

12/22

The Russian Orthodox Church has long been tied to espionage. During Soviet times, priests acted as KGB informants and many of them were even KGB-trained agents (like Kirill). Today, the church is still just an ideological weapon for the Kremlin.

13/22

Patriarch Kirill

The Kremlin uses the church to push nationalist propaganda. It promotes the war, and its priests are recruiting soldiers to the meat grinder, even enabling war crimes by claiming that “Russian war dead have their sins forgiven.”

14/22

In Ukraine, Russia has bombed over 600 churches and religious buildings. Even the historic Sviatohirsk Lavra monastery was shelled back in 2022, killing monks and civilians. In other words, Russia is actively trying to erase Ukraine’s Orthodox cultural heritage.

15/22

In the occupied regions, Russia is seizing churches and transferring them to the Moscow Patriarchate, and priests loyal to Moscow replace local clergy. There are several cases where these priests have worked for the FSB, and have spied on behalf of the Russian state.

16/22

In occupied Ukraine, local religious leaders who resist are murdered, arrested or disappeared without a trace. Many priests have been shot simply for refusing to work under the Moscow Patriarchate and Patriarch Kirill.

17/22

In the last two years, Russo-American propaganda, led by @tuckercarlson and @robertamsterdam, has accused Zelenskyy of “persecuting Christians” in Ukraine by banning the Moscow Patriarchate in the country. Read more about this propaganda push here:

18/22

Russian Orthodox Church

And in reality, the country Putin claims to be “saving” from the “godless West” is actually more religious than Russia. Ukrainians have higher church attendance and stronger faith-based values. Meanwhile, Russia suppresses real religious freedom.

19/22

Russia is one of the least religious countries in the world. Church attendance is low, and many Russians identify as Orthodox in name only, without actively practicing their faith. The state promotes Orthodoxy as a cultural tool, not a true religious revival.

20/22

Despite Kremlin rhetoric about “traditional values,” polls show that only a small fraction of Russians regularly attend church. For many, Orthodoxy is more of a national identity than a deeply held faith. In other words, it’s just a “Potemkin Faith”.

21/22

Ukraine, instead,is actually a Christian, conservative country. If it weren’t for the billions spent in Kremlin propaganda, any serious right-wing conservative would be siding with Ukraine, not Russia. But the MAGA “Christ is King” gang are not very good Christians, either.

22/22

The 2nd edition of “Vatnik Soup – The Ultimate Guide to Russian Disinformation” is officially out!

You can order your copy here:

The Book | Vatnik Soup