Chuck Grassley: “what I am going to say is, remember the history of Putin saying 20 years ago that the breakup of the Soviet Union was a…”

“what I am going to say is, remember the history of Putin saying 20 years ago that the breakup of the Soviet Union was a geopolitical disaster of the 20th century and that Putin's goal was to reestablish the Soviet Empire; and we see that going on every day with how he is destroying Ukraine. So everyone interested in religious freedom in Russia and Ukraine should read the recent report by the Free Russia Foundation. The Free Russia Foundation is an organization of Russians who wants a ``free, democratic, peaceful and prosperous Russia reintegrated into the international community as a constructive and positive actor.'' This organization's recent report, entitled ``The Russian Orthodox Church and the War,'' demonstrates how this church body supports the ongoing invasion of Ukraine through propaganda, rituals for the invaders, diplomatic manipulation, and espionage. Now, doesn't that seem very odd for a church--any church--to have that as goals? The Russian Orthodox Church is also actively engaged in suppressing and persecuting other Christian denominations, including Orthodox believers who do not answer to Russia. It seems shocking to me to see Russians talk about the main Christian denomination in Russia in this way, but remember this: After initially persecuting Orthodox believers, dictator Joseph Stalin co-opted the Russian Orthodox Church to support the Soviet state.…”