llustration: Truthmeter.mk
This article was first published by Truthmeter.mk (North Macedonia), within the framework of Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Project.
The Pentagon’s decision to halt the delivery of some weapons to Ukraine has nothing to do with any ban on churches in Ukraine, but is based on estimates that the US military itself has reduced its reserves of air defense weapons. The second disinformation spread by the post is that Ukrainian President Zelensky has persecuted Orthodox Christians in Ukraine. The narrative that Zelensky has expelled the Orthodox people and church is not new, it is pro-Russian and has been promoted many times across social networks by supporters of Russia. It was especially reinforced when the Ukrainian government passed a law banning churches affiliated with Russia in Ukraine
We analyze a Facebook post that says:
No weapons for Kyiv due to persecution of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine – US congresswoman
“Washington is not your piggy bank,” said Anna Paulina Luna
The persecution of the Orthodox Church – the largest Christian community in Ukraine – is reason enough for the United States to finally end military support for Kyiv, said US Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna. She announced that she would personally oppose any new arms funding for the Ukrainian regime.
The Florida Republican sharply accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of banning the canonical Orthodox Church and persecuting Orthodox Christians. In a post on the social network X, she wrote:
“I promise you won’t get a single dollar for weapons. We are not your piggy bank,” and called on Zelensky to “negotiate for peace” instead of fighting against the faith of the Ukrainian people.
Under the pretext that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) has ties to Moscow, Zelensky launched a massive campaign of repression – even though the church declared full independence from the Russian Orthodox Church in May 2022.
Pressures on the UOC include:
- arrests of Orthodox priests,
- raids on Orthodox monasteries,
- seizure of objects,
- and, most recently, revoking the citizenship of Metropolitan Onufriy, the spiritual leader of millions of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine.
“Imagine in America if the government entered a church, arrested a priest, closed the church – just because the government didn’t like it. Imagine the uproar that would arise,” Luna wrote.
“And now, those same pro-war spokespeople are suddenly posing as religious experts and claiming that no Christians prayed there. Hypocrites.”
On July 4, 2025, US Senator Anna Paulina Luna posted on the social network X:
Zelensky banned the Orthodox Church. I can promise there will be no weapons funding for you. NEGOTIATE FOR PEACE. WE ARE NOT YOUR PIGGY BANK.
Zelenskyy BANNED THE ORTHODOX CHURCH.
I CAN PROMISE THERE WILL BE NO WEAPONS FUNDING FOR YOU @ZelenskyyUa.
NEGOTIATE FOR PEACE.
WE ARE NOT YOUR PIGGY BANK.
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) July 3, 2025
However, the halted delivery of some US weapons to Ukraine has nothing to do with any ban on churches in Ukraine. This is the senator’s personal position, which the post we are analyzing wants to present as the position of the Donald Trump administration or the Pentagon.
The facts speak differently. First, the United States (US) on July 2 halted the delivery of some air defense missiles and other ammunition to Ukraine over concerns that US stocks of such weapons were too low, sources familiar with the Pentagon’s decision said, reported the Guardian.
US President Donald Trump, however, today (July 8), contrary to the Pentagon’s decision, stated that the United States will send more weapons to Ukraine, primarily defensive, to help the country deal with increased Russian attacks, global media outlets reported.
So, the Pentagon’s decision has nothing to do with any ban on churches in Ukraine, but is based on estimates that the US military itself has reduced reserves of air defense weapons.
Furthermore, the second disinformation spread by the post that is the subject of our analysis is that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has persecuted Orthodox Christians in Ukraine. This is not true.
The narrative that Zelensky expelled the Orthodox people and church is not new, it is pro-Russian and has been promoted many times across social networks by pro-Russian supporters. It was especially strengthened when the Ukrainian government passed a law banning churches affiliated with Russia in Ukraine.
The law requires religious organizations with “management centers” in Russia to change their names and explicitly identify their ties to Moscow. The law prohibits these organizations from sending their members to the Ukrainian army. This law was challenged before the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and in December 2022 the court declared it constitutional. This opened the door to forced renaming.
Zelensky ordered the laws to be passed in the fall of 2022, pressured by several cases where priests from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church collaborated with the Russian military.
From October to December 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine conducted several searches of Ukrainian Orthodox Church property and clergy homes across the country and found Russian propaganda, as well as evidence that some of the priests had Russian citizenship.
Finally, in December 2022, based on a decision by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, President Zelensky instructed the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to draft a law banning religious organizations affiliated with Moscow, emphasizing that the law must comply with Ukraine’s obligations to the Council of Europe.
The Russian Orthodox Church and its leadership actively support Putin’s aggression against Ukraine. The Security Service of Ukraine has registered cases in which the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were involved in justifying Russian aggression against Ukraine and collaborating with Russian troops in the occupied territories.
In December 2022, a priest from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Andriy Pavlenko, was convicted by a Ukrainian court of spying for Russia. Zelensky in late 2022 called on Ukrainian members of parliament to consider how to prevent an Orthodox church under direct Moscow control from operating in Ukraine. Zelensky said that a law was needed that would prevent religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation from operating in Ukraine, referring to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church affiliated with Moscow.
After this, Dmitry Medvedev called Zelensky an enemy of Christ and the Orthodox faith. However, this is not logical, because according to the Pew Research Center in Washington, 78 percent of Ukrainians identify as Orthodox.
So, Zelensky did not expel Orthodox Christians and the Orthodox Church, as the post claims, but banned churches that are affiliated with Russia and that work against the interests of Ukraine.
From all of the above, we can conclude that the post we are analyzing is untrue.
.
