S. 4379

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4379 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4379

To require the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense to 
jointly submit a report on efforts by the Government of the Russian 
Federation to violate the religious freedoms of the people of Ukraine, 
to require the President to impose all applicable sanctions with 
respect to foreign persons determined to have engaged in such efforts, 
and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

April 22, 2026

Mr. Kennedy (for himself and Mr. Whitehouse) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To require the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense to 
jointly submit a report on efforts by the Government of the Russian 
Federation to violate the religious freedoms of the people of Ukraine, 
to require the President to impose all applicable sanctions with 
respect to foreign persons determined to have engaged in such efforts, 
and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Russia's War on Faith Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:
(1) In territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the 
Russian Federation, Russian occupation authorities have imposed 
policies that restrict, suppress, and eliminate freedom of 
religion and belief, in violation of international law and 
civilian protections under the law of armed conflict.
(2) The United States Commission on International Religious 
Freedom has documented that Russian authorities in occupied 
Ukrainian territories have engaged in severe violations of 
religious freedom, including the detention, torture, 
disappearance, and unlawful imprisonment of clergy and 
believers, as well as the closure and confiscation of houses of 
worship.
(3) According to Ukrainian authorities and independent 
monitoring groups, Russian forces have damaged or destroyed 
more than 600 churches, synagogues, mosques, and other 
religious sites since the start of the Russian Federation's 
full-scale invasion.
(4) The Russian Federation has killed more than 50 
Ukrainian priests, pastors, and other religious leaders during 
the Russian Federation's invasion, and many others have been 
abducted, detained, tortured, or forcibly disappeared in 
occupied territories.
(5) Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, members of the Church of 
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Crimean Tatar, and Orthodox 
Christian communities not aligned with the Russian Orthodox 
Church have been subjected to raids, forced re-registration 
under Russian law, intimidation, and criminal prosecution, with 
many congregations driven underground or permanently shuttered.
(6) Religious buildings in occupied areas have been seized 
and repurposed for military or administrative use, religious 
literature has been confiscated, and charitable ministries 
dismantled, eroding both the spiritual and humanitarian 
foundations of local communities.
(7) The Russian Orthodox Church, led by Patriarch Kirill of 
Moscow, has publicly framed the invasion in theological terms, 
describing the war as a ``holy war'' having ``metaphysical 
significance'' and stating in a September 2022 sermon that if a 
soldier dies in the performance of military duty, ``this 
sacrifice washes away all the sins that a person has 
committed''. According to the Committee on International 
Religious Freedom, ``Russian de facto authorities often commit 
religious freedom violations to facilitate the dominance of the 
Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in these 
territories''.
(8) The Russian Federation's actions demonstrate a 
systematic campaign of religious persecution in occupied 
Ukrainian territory, violating the fundamental right to freedom 
of thought, conscience, religion, and belief as protected under 
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION'S PERSECUTION OF RELIGIOUS 
GROUPS IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF UKRAINE; IMPOSITION OF 
SANCTIONS.

(a) Report Required.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 3 years, the 
Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the 
Director of National Intelligence, shall jointly submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a report that includes--
(1) a detailed description of the Government of the Russian 
Federation and its state-affiliated, quasi-state, or 
occupation-era activities that involve the persecution or 
suppression of, or discrimination against, or otherwise 
directly or indirectly involve engaging in or facilitating 
serious human rights abuse against, Christians, Jews, and 
Muslims (including Crimean Tatars), and other religious 
minorities not affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, and 
their respective religious organizations in Russian-occupied 
territories of Ukraine;
(2) an identification of churches, synagogues, mosques, 
other religious facilities, including Christian, Jewish, 
Muslim, and other minority religious institutions, that have 
been destroyed, damaged, seized, repurposed, or otherwise 
appropriated directly or indirectly by persons operating for or 
on behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation in 
occupied territories of Ukraine;
(3) an assessment of--
(A) the number of Christians, Jews, Muslims 
(including Crimean Tatars), and other religious 
minorities who are not affiliated with the Russian 
Orthodox Church, who have been subjected to 
persecution, imprisonment, or forced displacement in 
occupied territories of Ukraine;
(B) restrictions imposed on Christian, Jewish, 
Muslim, and other religions not affiliated with the 
Russian Orthodox Church's religious practices, worship 
services, or religious education in occupied 
territories;
(C) efforts to compel Christian organizations to 
affiliate with Moscow-based religious institutions or 
to suppress Christian activity not affiliated with 
Moscow-based religions;
(D) efforts by the Government of the Russian 
Federation, by authorities exercising de facto 
governmental control in occupied territory, or by 
entities or individuals otherwise affiliated with the 
Russian Federation, to compel Christian organizations 
in Ukraine and in occupied territories--
(i) to affiliate with Moscow-based 
religious institutions; or
(ii) to suppress Christian, Jewish, Muslim, 
or any other denominations not aligned with 
Russian state interests; and
(E) the overall impact of the Russian Federation's 
invasion of Ukraine, and its occupation of Ukrainian 
territory, on religious freedom in occupied territories 
of Ukraine, including Crimea and Sevastopol; and
(4) a list of individuals and entities affiliated with the 
Government of the Russian Federation, or exercising de facto 
authority in occupied territory, that--
(A) are responsible for persecution or suppression 
of, or discrimination against, Christians, Jews, or 
Muslims in Ukraine and in the occupied territories of 
Ukraine; or
(B) have otherwise engaged in or attempted to 
engage in any of the conduct described in this 
subsection.
(b) Certification Required.--Not later than 30 days after the 
submission of each report required by subsection (a), the President 
shall certify to the appropriate congressional committees whether there 
may be reasonable grounds to determine that any of the individuals and 
entities included in the list described in subsection (a)(4) have 
engaged the any of the conduct described in paragraph (2) or (3) of 
subsection (a).
(c) Effect of Positive Certification.--If the President makes an 
affirmative certification under subsection (b) with respect to a 
foreign person, the President shall impose applicable sanctions with 
respect to that person pursuant to the authorities and procedures set 
forth in the applicable regulations under--
(1) part 583 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations 
(relating to sanctions authorized under the Global Magnitsky 
Human Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.));
(2) part 589 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations 
(relating to Ukraine-/Russia-related sanctions);
(3) part 587 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations 
(relating to Russian harmful foreign activities sanctions); or
(4) any other regulation under chapter V of title 31, Code 
of Federal Regulations, providing for the imposition of 
sanctions (including the blocking of property or interests in 
property) with respect to the conduct for which such person 
received an affirmative certification.
(d) Effect of Subsequent Negative Determination.--To the extent 
that the President determines, based on a subsequent report required by 
subsection (a), that an individual or entity previously listed in such 
a report no longer engages in any of the conduct described in 
subsection (b) or otherwise no longer meets the requirements with 
respect to the applicable sanctions imposed with respect to such person 
under subsection (c), the President may waive or terminate the 
application of such sanctions with respect to that person.
(e) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted 
in an unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
(f) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Foreign 
Relations, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 
Financial Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of 
Representatives.
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