Sponsors (3)
The bill increases U.S. recognition, documentation, and leverage to hold Russian forces and allied actors accountable for religious persecution and property destruction, but does so at the risk of escalating tensions, imposing administrative costs, and potentially harming clergy or third-party actors in occupied areas.
Ukrainian religious communities (Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, LDS, Crimean Tatar, non‑Moscow Orthodox) and victims in occupied territories are formally documented and recognized by the U.S., increasing Congressional visibility and enabling targeted accountability actions and diplomatic support.
Religious organizations and local governments benefit from U.S. documentation of destruction to 600+ religious sites, which strengthens the factual basis for international accountability, reparations claims, and postwar restoration funding.
Named attribution of abuses and an affirmative presidential certification would trigger targeted sanctions and diplomatic pressure against perpetrators, increasing consequences for human-rights abusers.
U.S. findings, public attribution, and sanctions risk escalating tensions with Russia, potentially provoking retaliatory measures that could raise energy and trade costs or affect U.S. citizens and interests abroad.
Sanctions and public naming of entities could inadvertently harm third parties or legitimate businesses and disrupt commerce or humanitarian operations in occupied areas.
Publicly highlighting specific religious institutions and leaders may put remaining local clergy and congregants at increased risk and complicate humanitarian negotiations on the ground.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires detailed U.S. reporting on religious persecution in Russian-occupied Ukraine, identification of perpetrators and sites, and triggers sanctions when the President certifies reasonable grounds.
Introduced April 22, 2026 by John Neely Kennedy · Last progress April 22, 2026
Requires the State Department and Defense Department, working with U.S. intelligence, to produce a detailed public report about religious persecution in Russian‑occupied areas of Ukraine and to identify responsible individuals and entities. If the President certifies there are reasonable grounds that named persons engaged in persecution, the law directs imposition of applicable U.S. sanctions and allows later waiver or termination if conduct stops. The reporting must be delivered within 120 days of enactment and then annually for three years, document damaged or seized religious sites, estimate numbers persecuted or displaced, assess efforts to force affiliation with the Moscow Patriarchate, and can include a classified annex; it also specifies which congressional committees will receive the reports.