Silenced Witness: Robert Amsterdam Exposes Ukraine’s Crackdown on Christianity at NYYRC Event
Human rights lawyer confronts media silence, government pressure, and religious persecution in a packed NYC forum hosted by the New York Young Republicans.
NEW YORK CITY — August 6, 2025
In one of its most controversial and emotionally charged events to date, the New York Young Republican Club (NYYRC) hosted world-renowned human rights attorney Robert Amsterdam for a sobering conversation on the systematic and largely unreported campaign of persecution against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) by the Zelensky government.
Titled “Zelensky’s War on Christian Ukraine,” the Tuesday evening event drew a packed house to the club’s Midtown headquarters. Among the many distinguished guests were the recently re-elected Co-chairman of the Young Republican National Federation, Catherine Whiteford, and Mirko Reto, the Sindaco di Casciago, Italy. Despite its high-profile speaker and deeply relevant human rights focus, mainstream media outlets were notably absent, a silence that did not go unremarked.
This event has been one of the most controversial that we have ever done,” said NYYRC President Stefano Forte. “It’s also probably the first event we’ve ever done which hasn’t been covered by the mainstream media — they’re conspicuously absent.
Forte told UOJ that his club has received numerous threats since announcing the event. Kicking off the event, he addressed the crowd with a warning.
There have been people sending us messages claiming they plan to disrupt this event. If you’re in the room to disrupt this event, this is your last chance to walk out before you get embarrassed. If you’re here to be disruptive, we’re gonna take that exact sum [ticket cost] and donate it to the legal defense fund of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The room erupted in applause.
A Voice for the Voiceless
Robert Amsterdam, who currently represents the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in international legal efforts, didn’t mince words.
Our firm is representing jailed priests, tortured priests, priests in dungeons in Ukraine. [Metropolitan] Arseny, in a dungeon in Ukraine. Why? Because during a sermon, he stated [there were] roadblocks. And because he stated where the roadblocks were, they charged him with espionage. They removed him from his home and family, the man has lost his stomach to cancer, he’s near death. [These are] completely merciless attacks on the Church by people of no faith.
UOJ has previously reported on the extension of Metropolitan Arseny's detention. He has been imprisoned for over a year without trial, as his health rapidly deteriorates from cancer.
Amsterdam pointed out how, contrary to the narrative of pro-Russian sympathies, it is the faithful of the UOC who have born the brunt of the war effort. He notes how the majority of Ukrainian soldiers were baptized by the UOC — and it is the UOC who must tragically bury those same men.
Amsterdam highlighted the scale of the oppression, but also the zeal for the Church among Ukrainians.
Over 1,500 churches have been seized — often violently — often by men with swastikas tattooed on their arms. But I want to point out that there is now a catacomb church, underground churches are sprouting up all over Ukraine, in apartments and basements. I want to remind everybody, that our government of the United States is not only funding Ukraine, but by picking up one phone could end this drama.
Amsterdam reiterated that the US Government is not a passive observer, but a direct participant in the persecution of the UOC.
If you’re a man of faith, of any faith, understand that our government, the American government, has set itself up to decide what are the good faiths and what are the bad faiths.
Not Just a Church Problem
While roughly half the attendees self-identified as Christian, the message clearly resonated across ideological and religious lines. Amsterdam framed the issue as not only about religious freedom, but also about government overreach and media manipulation.
One NYYRC member, Mohammad, a member of the NYYRC, was struck by the direct involvement of the US Government.
What stood out to me was the fact that the United States State Department, USAID, and Victoria Nuland were funding one state over another.
Jewish attorney Elijah Hoffman, not affiliated with the club but present out of concern, said he was alarmed by the chilling precedent this sets for state-backed religious repression.
The lawyer warned that the Zelensky regime, far from being a beacon of democracy, has shut down dissent, controls the press, and is actively repressing independent religious institutions—with the UOC being the last one standing.
Zelensky is running a country dominated by the secret police, without any independent courts, any independent police, without any independent anything — except the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. We are the last bastion of any independent thought in Ukraine. So it is not ‘Russian influence’ they’re stamping out, it’s Ukrainian influence that doesn’t worship Zelensky and Yermak.
While Amsterdam wasn't pulling punches, he also made clear that the solution in his eyes was not to cut all funding to Ukraine.
I don’t want any penny of any aid to Ukraine impacted. Nobody denies the shameful, aggressive attacks of Russia on Ukraine. Nobody here is in any way wanting to diminish aid to Ukraine. But what we are saying is that if Ukraine is going to stand for Democratic values, freedom of religion is value number one.
At this the crowd again roared in approval.
A Room Which Refuses to Be Silent
Amsterdam likewise made clear that the lack of press at the event tonight — something which surprised club leadership — was not the exception, but the norm. He claimed that the Zelensky government is spending no less than three million dollars a year to counter his efforts, and that the Ukrainian government has a powerful disinformation apparatus.
Ukraine has the most successful disinformation campaign in the world today, and they manipulate the Western press like nothing I’ve ever seen. If you criticize Ukraine in any language similar to what has been said by the Russians, well, you must be a Russian agent. They can’t accept that you might just not be bought off by them — they don’t buy that. How you fight it, is a hundred rooms like this.
By the end of the night, it was clear that those present—Republicans and independents, Christians and non-Christians alike—were unified in support for Metropolitan Onuphry and the embattled UOC. Every attendee we interviewed stated clear support for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv; each expressed their solidarity with the suffering Orthodox population of Ukraine and a desire to personally work towards an end to the persecution. If Amsterdam needs to speak to a hundred rooms, he has gained a powerful ally in the Young Republicans.
Forte closed with a call to action:
As long as we’re here, we will stand for what is right. This is a very important issue, we're all better off for having heard it, and we hope to spread it far and wide."
