Thank you to so many of you who joined Olga Lautman and me today for our ongoing conversations today about Russian interference in the 2016 election. If you missed it live, you can watch it here or on YouTube. For more information, be sure to read and follow the entire Active Measures series and check out yesterday’s newsletter on how the Kremlin infiltrated the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency.
Olga very helpfully curated a timeline and a list of people involved in the Russian plot to infiltrate American evangelical circles, which you can see below.
Before you get to that, a request: the mainstream media refuses to cover this story and has largely ignored Trump’s narrative that Russian election interference was a “hoax.” If you have followed our series, you know that this is a lie — and that the Kremlin is engaged in ongoing efforts to interfere in our elections again. Please read our series and send it to as many people as you know, so that we fight back against Trump’s lies and against a complacent legacy media that has become a transcription service for this administration.
Timeline of Russia’s Evangelical Operations
2008–2009: Patriarch Kirill enthroned; ROC begins intensified outreach.
2010–2011: Malofeev opens St. Basil Foundation; Komov becomes WCF representative
2012: Franklin Graham praises Russia’s Christian values.
2013: Russia passes “gay propaganda” law; UN “traditional values” resolution.
2014: Malofeev sanctioned for funding Russian operations; WCF Moscow rebranded.
2015: Tsargrad TV launched; Torshin and Butina attend Prayer Breakfast.
2015: Graham meets Putin and Patriarch Kirill; Evangelical media echo Kremlin propaganda.
U.S. Evangelical Leaders and Organizations Engaged with Russia
Franklin Graham — Met with Putin and Patriarch Kirill in Moscow (2015) and praised Putin’s defense of Christian values.
Brian Brown (NOM/WCF) — Championed Russia’s “family values” laws and partnered with Alexey Komov; elected WCF president in 2016.Larry Jacobs (WCF) — Publicly defended Moscow’s role in hosting and promoting WCF conferences.Allan Carlson (WCF co-founder) — Co-created WCF with Russian allies, promoting U.S.–Russia cooperation on traditional values.National Prayer Breakfast — Attended by Russian Orthodox and WCF-linked delegations facilitated by Torshin and Butina.
Russian Media Targeting U.S. Evangelicals / MAGA
RT (Russia Today) / RT America – Pushed narratives of U.S. decline, moral corruption, and deep state conspiracies.
Sputnik – Amplified divisive cultural content and “Christian persecution” framing to conservative audiences.
Tsargrad TV – Orthodox-nationalist, Fox-style media exporting Kremlin “values” discourse.
Russia Insider (Charles Bausman) — English-language propaganda for far-right audiences, casting Putin as a defender of Christianity and echoing themes that appealed to evangelicals.
Katehon (Malofeev think tank) – Blended geopolitics, Orthodoxy, anti-liberalism for an international audience.
Geopolitika.ru (Dugin) – Ideological hub for Eurasianist narratives, Orthodox values, anti-West propaganda.
Political & Intelligence-Linked Operatives
Alexander Torshin — Russian Central Bank official and longtime senator; cultivated NRA and National Prayer Breakfast ties; sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018.
Maria Butina — Protégé of Torshin; infiltrated the NRA and National Prayer Breakfast; pled guilty in 2018 to acting as an unregistered foreign agent.
Elena Mizulina — Duma member; author of the 2013 “gay propaganda” law, centerpiece of Kremlin’s “traditional values” arsenal.
Edward Lozansky — Expat organizer in Washington; ran “Russia House” and the World Russia Forum; created access points for Kremlin officials, GOP lawmakers, and U.S. faith leaders.
Vladimir Yakunin – Ex–Russian Railways chief; sanctioned 2014; backed Orthodox initiatives, far-right outreach, and ran the “Dialogue of Civilizations” forum.
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