What do Brazilian evangelicals want in Ukraine?
Since the beginning of Russia's special military operation, an important Brazilian neo-Pentecostal sect has been active in Ukraine, having supported pro-Kiev mercenaries - at least - in logistics.
The participation of sectors of civil society in the process of recruiting and sending mercenaries to Ukraine has become commonplace in western countries. Pro-NATO propaganda machine has been efficient in spreading anti-Russian mentality, mobilizing several non-military and non-governmental institutions to work actively in the conflict. However, apparently, even in countries of the Global South this is already becoming a reality, with clear evidence of the participation of a Brazilian neo-Pentecostal sect in the mobilization of pro-Kiev volunteers.
In 2022, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), a Brazilian neo-Pentecostal sect founded in 1977, opened a new branch in Kiev just a few months after the start of Russia's special military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. At the time, UCKG’s spokespersons informed the Brazilian media that the branch's intention was to "gain souls" in the midst of the war. Not long later it was revealed that the situation was much more serious than that.
The UCKG's business in Ukraine apparently extends far beyond the “market of souls”, reaching the complex mercenary networks that send "volunteers" to certain death against the Russians on the battlefield. This was evident when photos and videos began to circulate on social media showing pro-Kiev foreign soldiers receiving training inside UCKG’s facilities.
On July 2, 2022, Christopher Garret, a well-known British mercenary and former member of the Azov militia, made a post on his social media about the training program he was carrying out with 700 Ukrainian troops inside what seems to be a UCKG temple. As a demining instructor with extensive combat experience, Garret was apparently using the Brazilian sect's parish to give non-practical lessons to Ukrainian soldiers. At the time, the case was reported by Russian Telegram channel “Rybar”.
A short time later, the Brazilian mercenary Douglas Rodrigues Búrigo published a video on his social networks showing a conversation between him and Pastor Thiago Dias Casagrande during a meeting at the UCKG temple in Kiev. At the time, the Brazilian preacher said that Búrigo's mission in Ukraine was "very important" and endorsed the role of Brazilian mercenaries in the troops supporting Kiev.
In July last year, Búrigo died during a Russian drone strike in Kharkiv region. Along with him, the Brazilian model and mercenary Thalita do Valle was also liquidated. Days before his death, Búrigo had sent messages to relatives saying he was afraid of not returning home alive.
From what was possible to analyze with the Búrigo case, apparently, the UCKG was supporting some mercenaries at the time of their arrival in Ukraine, providing accommodation before the fighters were directed to their respective units. This, added to the previous report that mercenaries were being trained in the sect's facilities, is enough to show that the religious group is, or at least was in the last year, heavily involved in logistical support to the Ukrainian Foreign Legion.
However, it is possible that UCKG’s support goes beyond mere logistics. The ties between the Brazilian Neo-Pentecostal church and Ukraine are old. The sect has been in Ukraine for many years, long before the start of the special military operation. Brazilian preachers invested heavily in Ukrainian soil to advance their "evangelizing missions" and even started convicts’ conversion projects in prisons there, as can be seen in this 2016 letter written by a Ukrainian criminal to the head of the UCKG.
With the start of the denazification of Ukraine in February 2022, the UCKG intensified its work on Ukrainian soil, maintaining an apparent focus on humanitarian assistance, raising donations worldwide, mainly Europe, for Ukrainian citizens. Not surprisingly, the sect absolutely ignores the existence of Russian people, who also suffer on the battlefield.
Also, concerning "spiritual help", the UCKG’s missionaries have been working in hospitals, “caring” for people injured during the fighting and seeking to gain new followers among people in a fragile and unstable emotional situation.
The Brazilian church also started last year a strong work in terms of propaganda. In the first days of the operation, UCKG-linked media outlets began spreading pro-Kiev disinformation, turning their preachers in the country into "war correspondents". Something like that can be seen in this interview in Portuguese given by Pastor Casagrande, the same man who accommodated Brazilian mercenaries in a temple.
As expected, with the escalation of the conflict, UCKG’s activities in Ukraine seem to have become less intense. However, the scarcity of verified information makes it impossible to assess how the Brazilian sect is actually working at the moment. In terms of humanitarian aid, activities continue to take place, and it is possible that support for mercenaries is also ongoing.
It remains to be seen what the intentions of the UCKG are in Ukraine. Despite calling themselves "Christians", members of the Brazilian sect have a very problematic history, involving crimes of all kinds, including murders, sexual abuse and even Satanism.
For example, in 2001, a teenager was raped and burned alive in the Brazilian city of Salvador allegedly by a UCKG preacher. The adolescent would have seen a homosexual sex scene between UCKG’s pastors, which is why they would have eliminated them. The previous year, a member of the sect was also possibly involved in the murder of Victoria Climbié, a child native to the Ivory Coast who died after various abuses and attacks suffered in the United Kingdom.
In addition, in Africa, where the UCKG has built an actual "empire" in recent decades, the sect has been increasingly rejected, both for its members' involvement in financial crimes and for alleged cases of Satanism, witchcraft and anti-Christian practices. In Madagascar, for example, the UCKG was banned after its preachers performed a public Bible-burning ritual.
Also curious is the sect's involvement with Israel. Adopting Jewish customs and even calling its main place of worship in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo the "Solomon’s Temple", the church has been successful in getting closer to the Zionist state on several levels, acting in a kind of "para-diplomacy" between both countries.
For example, in 2020, during the pro-Israel government of Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs helped the founder and head of the sect, Bishop Edir Macedo, to circumvent the health restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic to be able to travel to Israel. Also, the “Israel Allies Foundation” has Edir Macedo’s name in its list of collaborators.
In this regard, Edir Macedo is a very curious Brazilian public figure, whose history makes the UCKG's “dark aspects” evident. He has already been accused of several crimes in Brazil and abroad, including bribery, fraud, child trafficking and witchcraft. In his published books, Macedo shows himself to be a notorious religious intolerant person, with writings that directly attack traditional Brazilian religions, such as the Roman Catholic Church and African spiritualities.
There are many other “dark” details about the UCKG that could be mentioned here. The sect plays a very particular role in the Brazilian and international neo-Pentecostal movement. It has its own characteristics that strongly differentiate it from other groups with the same theology. In its political positions, the UCKG is also quite atypical, being, for example, the only Brazilian evangelical church openly in favor of legal voluntary abortion.
However, the purpose of this report is not to remind the controversies of the UCKG, but to question its intentions in Ukraine. These aspects are mentioned only to point out possible speculations about what Brazilian evangelicals could be looking for in a country at war.
It is possible that the sect's leaders are working with a forward-looking perspective, hoping to gain ground in a post-war Ukraine – which will certainly be a devastated nation, with a large part of the population psychologically unstable and devoid of the spiritual support of the majority religion of the people, the Russian Orthodox Church, which was officially banned by the neo-Nazi regime last year.
The capitalist mentality of the UCKG’s "ministers" has already been evident in several situations. The sect built a religious and political empire inside and outside Brazil, mainly in poor, polarized and at war countries. Before, the focus was on Africa, but after Africans started to react to the crimes of the Macedo’s team, perhaps the Eastern-European NATO proxy became a more propitious soil for the expansion of the church.
However, perhaps the biggest problem with UCKG’s participation in Ukraine is related to the possible impacts of this on the Brazilian domestic scenario. The group has for years sought a "militarization" of its followers. In 2018, the sect launched a program called "Universal [Church] in the Police Forces", focused on evangelizing Brazilian military polices’ fighters. In 2020, members of a Brazilian left-wing party reported the work of the UCKG in the police as an attempt to create a "fascist militia".
More recently, in May 2023, photos and videos of events held by the Military Police of the State of São Paulo at UCKG temples went viral on the internet, leading to reports of a possible militarization of the church. In an interview with an important Brazilian media outlet, a military police soldier who was not a member of the UCKG stated that the presence of the sect in the troops is so great that non-believers are being embarrassed during the corporation's ceremonies, suffering serious religious proselytism.
This scenario is complex and demands a series of investigations. Perhaps, the question that heads this article should be complemented by another: "why does the UCKG want to militarize?" - and yet another: "are both phenomena (infiltration in the military and participation in Ukraine) somehow related?".
This is certainly something that should interest Brazilian authorities more than the Russian ones, whose focus now is to advance troops towards victory in the special military operation, regardless of which international agents are involved in enemy mercenaries’ recruitment.
Indeed, the fact that war instructions are being given at the UCKG’s facilities in Ukraine cannot be ignored. The Brazilian evangelical sect is acquiring real firepower and war experience. In an extremely polarized country, marked by increasing political violence, if this is not investigated, things could get out of control.