10/02/2026

In July 2014, I visited a mass grave site in the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk. Ukrainian forces had just taken back control of the city and I was there covering how investigators were digging out 12 bodies of Ukrainians executed by Russian militants. Four of them turned out to be from a local Pentecostal Church. Why had Russian militants pulled four men from a Sunday church service, tortured them, killed them and then dumped their bodies here?

For over a decade I’ve been reporting stories like this from occupied Ukrainian territory that show how Russia’s war in Ukraine isn’t a dispute over real estate. Russian forces are in Ukraine fighting to wipe out Ukrainian culture, language as well as any strand of Christianity that goes against the supremacy of the Russian Orthodox Church.

It’s an underreported topic and something that over ten years later is still not really understood in the US where many Americans still fall for the story that Russia promotes traditional, Christian, family values.

It’s the focus of my forthcoming documentary, See You in Heaven, which is a feature length film we’re wrapping up production on now. In this week’s Weekend Update, I share some of the most recent, and really shocking, stats from Russia’s war on Ukrainian Christians.

I’ve also just switched on a new membership feature so paying members will get exclusive sneak peak of a 10 minute cut down from the doc at the end of this Weekend Update. Only a small handful of people have ever seen this before, so please consider becoming a paid member here:    / @sostrovsky  

https://www.youtube.com/@sostrovsky