Russian Church Propaganda Exhibition Opens in Kremenets Amid War Concerns

In a powerful demonstration of the intersection between religion and propaganda, the western Ukrainian town of Kremenets has launched a revealing street exhibition titled “Church Rashism,” which exposes how Russia utilizes its Orthodox Church as an instrument of influence and propaganda against Ukraine.

The outdoor exhibition, situated prominently in Kremenets’ Freedom Square, is a collaborative effort between the Kremenets-Pochaiv State Historical-Architectural Reserve and the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory. It will remain open to the public for one week, inviting residents and visitors to examine the complex relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and political power.

“Kremenets is the first city beyond the capital where we present this exhibition on an incredibly complex and important topic of war and propaganda pursued by the Rashist regime with the aim of destroying Ukrainian identity,” said Volodymyr Tilyshchak, a representative from the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory.

The exhibition traces the historical evolution of church-state relations in Russia, beginning with Joseph Stalin’s strategic restoration of church structures in 1943, through to the contemporary alliance between Patriarch Kirill, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Visitors to the exhibition are confronted with documentary evidence of collaboration between Russian Orthodox Church leadership and Soviet security structures, detailing how religious institutions have been weaponized in the conflict against Ukraine. Particularly striking are images of Ukrainian churches destroyed during the current war and damaged religious monuments of national significance in the Ternopil region.

The location of the exhibition holds particular significance. The Kremenets district contains the highest concentration of religious communities affiliated with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in the Ternopil region. Since 2014, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of conflict in eastern Ukraine, 48 communities in the region have severed ties with the Moscow-aligned church.

Metropolitan Nestor of Ternopil and Kremenets, who attended the exhibition, offered a stark assessment of the Moscow Patriarchate’s role in Ukraine. “This exhibition provides people with factual material to understand what the Moscow Patriarchate is really doing in Ukraine, that this structure is an enemy of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian state,” he stated.

“It should not be in Ukraine, because they are part of this Russian military machine, and no matter how they mask themselves, no matter how they deny that they are the Ukrainian church, their actions testify to the exact opposite,” Metropolitan Nestor added.

The exhibition comes at a time of intensified scrutiny of the UOC-MP’s activities in Ukraine. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian authorities have conducted searches of Moscow-affiliated religious sites, discovering Russian propaganda materials in several monasteries and churches.

The Ukrainian parliament has been considering legislation that would effectively ban the activities of religious organizations affiliated with Russia, reflecting growing concern about religious institutions being used as vectors for Russian influence operations.

Cultural and historical exhibits like “Church Rashism” represent a growing trend in Ukraine of using public education to counter Russian information warfare. By illustrating the historical continuity of Russian imperial ambitions—from Soviet times to the present—such exhibitions aim to strengthen Ukrainian civil society’s resistance to external manipulation.

The exhibition in Kremenets serves as both a historical documentation and a contemporary warning about the weaponization of faith in modern conflict. By bringing these issues to public attention in a region with significant religious diversity, organizers hope to stimulate informed discussion about the complex relationship between national security, religious freedom, and foreign influence in Ukraine.