NEW: There’s growing optimism about aid for Ukraine. But there are also signs it's part of a Faustian bargain… ...in which evangelicals tied to The Family get to shape Ukraine’s future. https://t.co/R1wk0UzQwg
I'm going to share some of the dots I'm connecting here, but for the full (overfull?) picture, you can check out my article and help support my original reporting by becoming a subscriber: https://t.co/R1wk0UzQwg Okay, now some dots...
See this guy? Pavlo Unguryan, Ukraine liaison for The Family (the group behind prayer breakfasts)... ...meeting in January with Speaker Mike Johnson. "Brothers in faith," Unguryan said. Unguryan and other Ukrainian evangelicals gave Johnson a letter...
A Ukrainian site reported that the letter offered Johnson a new pitch for getting GOP evangelicals to support Ukraine. "Freedom of religion." (I'll get to Antoniuk, the guy in the picture below, too.)
Another Ukrainian site reported that Unguryan, the Family guy in Ukraine, said he made the same pitch to Johnson in person at their meeting. Unguryan described the conflict to Johnson in religious, dare I say near-apocalyptic terms.
Last year, @ktumulty discussed how Johnson rebuffed a meeting with an ecumenical group of Ukrainians... including Muslims and Jews. Evangelicals only make up 2% of Ukraine's population... https://t.co/itRlY1EiUd
@ktumulty The Ukrainians Johnson met with in January consisted of two evangelicals, a Pentecostal, and Seventh-Day Adventist. Antoniuk, the guy I said we'd get to, told Ukrainian media that it was "very important" for "Brother Mike" to hear from "fellow believers."
Two of the four known to have met with Johnson were also reported at a meeting last week with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. NOT reported, but identifiable in one picture of the event was The Family's Ukrainian point man, Unguryan, circled. You can see Zelenskyy on the right.
At last week's Zelenskyy meeting, Antoniuk (a U.S. prayer breakfast alum) made this case, as described by Zelenskyy's office... ...about religious freedom. And prayer breakfasts.
The Ukrainian religious leaders, after two years of war, in which they've been targeted by Russia's military, had only one ask of Zelenskyy, according to his office's account of the meeting. They want him to do prayer breakfasts. Zelenskyy didn't waffle.
But Zelenskyy had an ask of his own, as well. He understood that the religious leaders he was talking to have influential ties in the U.S. And he wanted those religious ties used to influence the politics around aiding Ukraine.
But The Family stands to get something out of all this aside from opposing Russia's religious persecution. After meeting with Johnson, Unguryan and Antoniuk went to Plano, TX. In a meeting covered only, AFAIK, by the Baptist Standard, they made their case...
If American evangelicals help Ukraine now, The Family's Ukrainians told their Plano audience... ...American evangelicals get to shape Ukraine's future.
For a sense of the Ukrainian future Unguryan has in mind, it's worth looking at his past in Ukraine. He's been a crusader against LGBTQ+ rights and a member of theocratic, anti-choice groups. Here's Right Wing Watch:
There's more to this story... the Family ties to the Plano venue, Unguryan's activities in DC w/ the Heritage Foundation and Bible Museum... ...and his Democratic allies. You can check it all out here: https://t.co/R1wk0UzQwg
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