Russia’s “true goal” is “a war on Christianity in Ukraine,” Steven Moore, founder of the Ukraine Freedom Project, told “EWTN News Nightly” after the bombing of the 11th-century Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
“This is certainly deliberate,” Moore said, noting that Russia has destroyed 750 churches in Ukraine and killed as many as 80 pastors and priests.
The Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, caught fire June 14 after Russia launched 70 missiles and 611 drones into several Ukrainian cities, which killed four people and injured 28 others, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“This is one of Russia’s most serious crimes against Christian culture to date,” Ukraine’s leader said about the damaged to the Eastern Orthodox cathedral, historically tied to the monastic life of the Lavra.
‘Putin is not making mistakes’
Russia’s Ministry of Defense issued a statement on June 15 claiming that the cathedral “was hit by a missile from an American Patriotic air defense system” and that “one possible reason for the malfunction of this system could be that Western countries had supplied the Kyiv regime with missiles that had expired.”
“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation do not plan or conduct strikes against civilian infrastructure facilities,” the Kremlin said.
“The Kremlin is talking about it being an accident,” Moore said. “But there’s a lot of accidents — every week there’s an accidental church bombing.”
“Putin is not making mistakes,” Moore said.
“Putin is not going to stop this until someone makes him stop,” Moore said, describing efforts to bring the war to an end as “a lot of talk.”
Combating Russian propaganda
Moore is visiting Washington, D.C., from Kyiv and said he has plans to advocate on Capitol Hill and launch several films, including one on Ukrainian children who have been trafficked into Russia. Moore is set to meet with Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, on June 16.
Moore told EWTN News in a separate interview that he plans to “focus primarily on Republicans because Republicans are in charge, and the Russians spend $2 billion annually on propaganda worldwide. Much of that goes into the conservative ecosphere.”
“The Russians target these conservative believers with misinformation,” he said, citing online figures such as Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson. “So weʼre trying to push back on that, and weʼre pushing back on Capitol Hill.”
The role of the international community
Foreign leaders took to social media to condemn the strikes, including French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who said the strike on the Dormition Cathedral is the equivalent of bombing Notre-Dame in Paris.
“The French are really good at talking,” Moore said.
“But I have yet to see a Leclerc tank in Donbas,” he said, speaking of French-made battle tanks.
“On an average day in April, the French bought enough petroleum products, liquid natural gas, primarily from Russia, to pay for about 220 Shahed drones every day,” he said about Iranian-made munitions, noting that Russia sends about 600 drones every time they attack Ukraine.
“A lot of this is paid for by European purchases of Russian fossil fuel,” Moore said. “So, you know, while I always like to hear what the French have to say, I would like to see them stop fueling the Russian war machine. And I would like to see them do more, send more aid to Ukraine.”
Ultimately, Moore called for the international community to cut off all financial ties with Russia. “Nothing else works because Putin only understands strength.”
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