Forbes Offers No Apology to Society of St. John, Acknowledges New Article in the Works

A press conference was held in front of the U.S. Capitol last month as part of the Society of St. John's Day of Action. Photo: Aaron Hickman/UOJ-USA

JAN. 12, 2025 — In a post on X Monday afternoon, the Society of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco shared that, after nearly a month, Forbes has refused to issue a formal apology for an article which was removed from its website in December.

The article, authored by David Kirichenko, was initially titled, "Russian Orthodox Church Brings Kremlin Propaganda Campaign to Capitol Hill." The thumbnail was a photo of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin walking together, and the social media preview stated that, "A delegation of Russian Orthodox Church representatives arrived in the U.S. this week..." After the Society pointed out the damagingly false nature of these statements — as the Day of Action on Capitol Hill was attended by roughly 200 Orthodox Christians who traveled from within the country — the title was changed to "The Russian Orthodox Church Wants a Ukrainian Law Repealed." After yet another email from the Society of St. John pointing out inaccuracies, the article was entirely removed.

Now, it has been revealed that Kirichenko is working on yet another article. This one is meant to be published by a different outlet, as Forbes says the matter is "closed on our end."

"David is preparing a new hit piece on our organization, while choosing not to meet the basic standards of responsible journalism," the Society said in its post.

"As you know, the original article was published by the author David Kirichenko on December 18, 2025, and it was removed from Forbes.com on December 20th," an email from Jessica Bohrer Breda, VP of Forbes' Editorial Counsel, begins. "Mr. Kirichenko does not intend to republish the article on our platform, so we consider the matter closed on our end. With that being said, Mr. Kirichenko may be working on a new story to publish via a different outlet, in which case we recommend that you continue to be in touch with him directly, as well as his editors at the other outlet, for any follow up questions or concerns."

A screenshot of the email sent by Forbes. Photo: Society of St. John/X

Ben Dixon, the founder of the Society and editor-in-chief of the Union of Orthodox Journalists of America, also posted about the response from Forbes, telling the general public to remember their tactics when other outlets attack the journalistic integrity of UOJ-USA.

"I told David if he'd publish an apology for defaming us, we'd be happy to answer any questions - even just assurance that the apology would be at the beginning of his upcoming 'analysis,'" Dixon said. "He's too proud."

It is not known at this time what publication Kirichenko intends to publish his follow-up piece in.

Previously, UOJ reported that the Society of St. John responded to allegations of foreign allegiance from the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Read also