The McCain Institute just returned from a weeklong mission to Ukraine, visiting Bucha, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Kyiv, with a bipartisan delegation of senior staff from the House of Representatives. It was a critical opportunity to see an unvarnished view of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Many Americans believe numerous myths about Ukraine — Ukraine persecutes Christians, the government is corrupt and steals U.S. aid, and the war is a “European problem” and doesn’t concern the United States. Or that Ukrainians want us to fight their war for them, as they are weak and in over their heads.
The infiltration of Russian disinformation into our media diet is extensive, and false narratives abound, even from our political leaders. As Sen. John McCain always preached, “Leadership matters,” and unsurprisingly and unfortunately, this disinformation has trickled down to voters. These beliefs result in U.S. inaction on Ukraine — inaction that will have global consequences.
While most Americans cannot travel there to hear, witness and absorb the truths of Russia’s unprovoked, full-scale war against Ukraine and its people, those who do — be they from civil society, government or private sector — have a responsibility to bring that knowledge back home to advocate for change.
To discuss the state of Christianity in Ukraine, we met with several religious leaders. An Orthodox priest in Bucha named Andriy welcomed us to his church, which was bombed by Russia and sits on a mass burial site filled with the bodies of innocent civilians slaughtered by the Russians who occupied the city for a month in 2022. He showed the delegation photos and videos he took on his phone, including those of a man shot off his bicycle in the middle of the road, children’s bodies strewn across residential courtyards, and black smoke pouring out of apartments.
An Orthodox bishop and an evangelical minister in Kharkiv described how their churches have linked arms with Jewish and Muslim religious leaders to support the community. They also served as chaplains to military units, where the minister was seriously wounded twice. When presented with the fact that some Americans believe Ukrainians are persecuting Christians, they were genuinely shocked and exasperated. They reported how even the Russian Orthodox churches — which they said take orders from the Kremlin, spread Russian disinformation and provide cover for Russian spies — are allowed to operate in the area.
Christianity is alive and well in Ukraine. The only country persecuting Christians is Russia, which has intentionally bombed Ukrainian churches and targeted Christians, including children. Russia has a long history of such persecution — closing Christian churches in Georgia under the Soviet Union and persecuting Jehovah’s Witnesses and other Christian churches at home.
Ukraine, like many nations, has struggled with corruption. However, the country is also blessed with some of the most vigilant watchdog organizations in the world that track and expose corruption.
Furthermore, opposition members of parliament described the numerous reforms implemented, including monitoring foreign aid, as well as the establishment of anti-corruption agencies. U.S. diplomats in Kyiv confirmed this account, reporting confidently that there had been no diversion of military material. The U.S. Office of Inspector General has conducted hundreds of audits of U.S. spending in Ukraine and found no credible claims of corruption. It said it was entirely Russian disinformation.
Ukrainian defense and intelligence government leaders and experts shared concrete data with our mission, enumerating the alarmingly global — not European — nature of this conflict. Much has been reported about North Korean and Iranian contributions to Russia’s war through tactical, material and human support. However, less known is how China is arguably Russia’s most valuable war partner, providing critical diplomatic ties and soft cover and supplying electronics, explosives, microchips and intelligence on deep strikes. Russia serves China’s interest in advancing its warfare capabilities and intelligence through AI-piloted drones and other technology, a direct threat to our ally Taiwan.
Make no mistake — this is a global theater. The United States would be, to put it mildly, naïve to believe that the accumulation of intelligence and modern warfare knowledge by North Korea, China and Iran presents no threat to the United States.
Finally, Ukraine is not without agency, strength and expertise, and it is not asking the United States to fight this war that defends us all — they will do it.
Two days after we left Ukraine, the world learned about the extraordinarily sophisticated Ukraine “spiderweb” attack on Russian military planes using AI-piloted drones hidden in “Trojan Horse style” trucks inside Russia. Ukraine is on the front lines of modern warfare — innovative, resilient and high-tech. A partnership with Ukraine would benefit our security, and Ukraine’s expertise within NATO would make us all safer and stronger.
They do need our help now to ensure the axis of aggressors does not win.
Ukrainians agree that while they welcome a temporary ceasefire, it will likely not hold — as evidenced by Russia’s long and notorious history of broken promises. Russia needs to feel the costs through our collective action — the provision of military hardware to protect the skies and hold the line as well as continued intelligence.
Of particular importance are U.S. Patriots (interceptors), which could save hundreds of lives. The United States and Europe must finally sever all economic ties with Russia (e.g., nuclear partnerships) and impose harsher sanctions on Russia and secondary sanctions so that China and others face consequences for their support of the war.
Accomplishing this requires our public support. It is incumbent on us — and particularly our political leaders — to dispel the myths that stubbornly persist by sharing the truths of Ukrainian resilience, bravery and innovation, and explaining why Ukraine’s future is ultimately ours. It is what Senator McCain would do.
Laura Thornton is the senior director for global democracy programs at the McCain Institute. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.
