18
September 2024
Past Event
Religion in the Crossfire between Russia and Ukraine

Event will also air live on this page.

 

Inquiries: msnow@hudson.org

Religion in the Crossfire between Russia and Ukraine

Past Event
Hudson Institute
September 18, 2024
Construction workers climb onto the roof of a destroyed church on January 4, 2023, in the village of Bohorodychne, Donetsk region. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)
Caption
Construction workers climb onto the roof of a destroyed church on January 4, 2023, in the village of Bohorodychne, Ukraine. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)
18
September 2024
Past Event

Event will also air live on this page.

 

Inquiries: msnow@hudson.org

Speakers:
Nina Shea
Nina Shea

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Religious Freedom

Oleksandr Aliksiichuk

Member, Verkhovna Rada

Dr. Maksym Vasin

Executive Director, Institute for Religious Freedom (Ukraine)

lauren homer.jpg
Lauren Homer

President, Law and Liberty Trust

pavlo Unguryan
Pavlo Unguryan

Coordinator, National Prayer Breakfast of Ukraine, and Former Member, Verkhovna Rada

Dmitry Bodyu

Founder and Pastor, Word of Life Church

Head of Research, Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative (SCRI)
Dr. Katharyn Hanson

Head of Research, Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative (SCRI)

Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, recently passed a controversial law that seeks to thwart the Kremlin-backed Russian Orthodox Church’s influence in Ukraine. This comes in response to accusations that some clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) support the Russian Armed Forces through means like trafficking weapons and disseminating propaganda.

Is the new law a legitimate response to the weaponization of religion by an enemy nation during wartime? Or is it a violation of religious freedom?

Oleksandr Aliksiichuk, member of the Verkhovna Rada and coauthor of the legislation; Dr. Maksym Vasin, executive director of the Ukraine-based Institute for Religious Freedom; and Lauren Homer, an international human rights lawyer and the president of Law and Liberty Trust, will join Hudson to discuss this question. 

Then a second panel of experts and witnesses will discuss the Russian Armed Forces’ religious atrocities in Ukraine, including deliberate attacks against churches and evangelical Christians. This panel will feature Ukrainian minister and former Verkhovna Rada Member Pavlo Unguryan; Dmitry Bodyu, founder and pastor of the Word of Life Church in Melitopol and a victim of torture by the Russian Armed Forces; and Dr. Katharyn Hanson, the head of research at the Smithsonian’s Cultural Rescue Initiative (SCRI) and an expert on Russia’s destruction of Ukraine’s cultural heritage sites.

Nina Shea, director of Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, will moderate the event.

Related Events
14
July 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Next Steps in US-China Great Power Competition with the House Republican Policy Committee
Featured Speakers:
Congressman Kevin Hern
Congressman Troy Downing
Congressman Joe Wilson
Moderator:
Michael Sobolik
Getty Images
14
July 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Next Steps in US-China Great Power Competition with the House Republican Policy Committee

Join Hudson Senior Fellow Michael Sobolik for a panel discussion with key members of the House Republican Policy Committee.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Congressman Kevin Hern
Congressman Troy Downing
Congressman Joe Wilson
Moderator:
Michael Sobolik
15
July 2025
Virtual Event | Online Only
The Iranian Regime Under Pressure: What’s Next?
Featured Speakers:
Mariam Memarsadeghi
Dr. Ladan Boroumand
Moderator:
Zineb Riboua
Getty Images
15
July 2025
Virtual Event | Online Only
The Iranian Regime Under Pressure: What’s Next?

Join Zineb Riboua, research fellow and program manager at Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, for a conversation with Mariam Memarsadeghi, senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and Dr. Ladan Boroumand, cofounder of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Mariam Memarsadeghi
Dr. Ladan Boroumand
Moderator:
Zineb Riboua
15
July 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Drone Warfare and Securing America’s Military Against Emerging Threats with Senator John Boozman
Featured Speakers:
Senator John Boozman
Thomas H. Shugart
Timothy A. Walton
DVIDS
15
July 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Drone Warfare and Securing America’s Military Against Emerging Threats with Senator John Boozman

Senator John Boozman (R-AR), chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, will join Senior Fellow Timothy A. Walton for a conversation on how the US can mitigate these risks and accelerate the fielding of forces and infrastructure to retain US advantage.

DVIDS
Featured Speakers:
Senator John Boozman
Thomas H. Shugart
Timothy A. Walton
15
July 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Countering Communist Cyborgs: China’s Dystopian AI Ambitions and the Robotics Race
Featured Speakers:
Congressman Bill Huizenga
Martijn Rasser
Divyansh Kaushik
Bill Drexel
Moderator:
Michael Sobolik
Getty Images
15
July 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Countering Communist Cyborgs: China’s Dystopian AI Ambitions and the Robotics Race

Senior Fellow Michael Sobolik will host an event to introduce his new white paper featuring policy recommendations for the Trump administration and Capitol Hill to help secure America’s innovation advantage.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Congressman Bill Huizenga
Martijn Rasser
Divyansh Kaushik
Bill Drexel
Moderator:
Michael Sobolik