MEDIA ADVISORY: Ukraine’s faith communities in the path of destruction

MEDIA ADVISORY

For Immediate Release
March 16, 2022

CONTACTS:
Hamilton Strategies, [email protected],
Beth Harrison, 610.584.1096, ext. 105,
or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102

Ukraine’s faith communities in the path of destruction
An expert panel will examine how Ukraine’s diverse faith communities and historic sacred sites, art and architecture are imperiled by Russia’s total war of annihilation

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Join Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC) for an important discussion on Ukraine’s diverse faith communities and the sacred historic sites imperiled as Russian President Vladimir Putin carves a path of destruction through this ancient land.

“Many of Ukraine’s historic faith communities and their churches have stood for centuries. They survived the German Nazis and Soviet Communists—will they now survive Putin?” asks Dede Laugesen, executive director of Save the Persecuted Christians. “Those Ukrainian religious leaders who in recent years have split from the Russian Orthodox Church are certain to be targeted by advancing troops—their punishment will almost certainly be death. We’ve already heard that Russian forces shot and killed a priest in a village outside of Kyiv on the last day of February. And, the endlessly tormented and fragile community of Ukrainian Jews—many of them elderly—simply may not survive this latest onslaught.”

On Thursday, March 17 at 4:30 pm ET, Save the Persecuted Christians will host a panel of experts to examine what is at risk for people of faith in Ukraine and what Putin may do to them if Russia should triumph. Our panelists will be joined live from Ukraine by Pastor Vitaly Dudukaloff from The Light Church in Plesetske a mere 30 miles southwest of Kyiv.

WHAT: A Save the Persecuted Christians webinar, “Ukraine’s Faith Communities in the Path of Destruction”

WHEN: 4:30 pm ET, Thursday, March 17

WHERE: Register to attend at https://savethepersecutedchristians.org/webinar-ukraines-faith-communities-in-the-path-of-destruction/

WHO:

Moderator:

• Frank Gaffney, President & CEO of Save the Persecuted Christians

Host:

• Dede Laugesen, Executive Director of Save the Persecuted Christians

Panelists:

• The Honorable Sam Brownback, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom from 2018 to 2021.
• Pastor Vitaly Dudukaloff from The Light Church (Svitlo Church) in Plesetske located 30 miles southwest of Kyiv.
• Lauren Homer, esq., Founder & President, Law and Liberty International; Owner, Homer International Law PLLC at Law and Liberty International; Providing a focus on laws affecting NGO’s, faith-based, and religious organizations in many countries, including Russia and former Soviet republics.
• Rabbi Michael Schiffman, Executive Director of Chevra USA serving elderly Ukrainian Jews since 1993.
• Rev. Gregory Golyzniak is a Polish Pastor serving St. Peter’s Catholic Church of Monument, CO with ties to Ukrainian Catholic communities, and is a PhD student in Sacred Architecture with an emphasis on the Gothic architecture of the 11th-17th centuries.
• Oleg Atbashian, a Ukrainian born U.S. citizen whose parents are in central Ukraine. Founder and host of the satirical site PeoplesCube.com, Oleg is an author and artist who uses humor and ridicule to inform on life lived under the former Soviet Union.

The mission of Save the Persecuted Christians is to save lives and save souls by disseminating actionable information about the magnitude of the persecution taking place globally and by mobilizing concerned Americans for the purpose of disincentivizing further attacks on those who follow Jesus.

With so much of the world’s Christian population being imprisoned and/or harassed for their beliefs, such as Christians in Ukraine, the need has never been greater for the sort of grassroots campaign STPC’s SaveUs Movement is working to foster. Its efforts are modeled after a miraculously successful one that helped free another population suffering from heavy persecution—Soviet Jews—by penalizing those in the Kremlin responsible for such repression. Through this movement, Save the Persecuted Christians endeavors to provide American policymakers with the popular support they need to effect real change worldwide and alleviate systemically the suffering being experienced by so many of those following Christ.

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To interview a Save the Persecuted Christians representative, contact Hamilton Strategies, [email protected], Beth Harrison, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102.