Russia is Waging a War Against Christians in Ukraine

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  • Read the story of Pastor Dmitry, a fifth generation Christian from Russia, who fled Russian persecution three times – as a young Christian in Russia, as a pastor who established 58 churches in Crimea, and in Russian-occupied Ukraine where he established a church of 500 people.  He warns: “Everywhere where communists are there is always a problem for the evangelical church,’ he said. ‘They always want to take the Word of God from you.”  In Pastor Dmitry’s experience, “Communism is not just political: it is more of a religion – but a religion that hates God and his Son, Jesus Christ.”   
  • In the article, Pastor Dmitry describes his harrowing arrest on March 19, 2023:  “They came into our house at 6.30 in the morning. We saw soldiers jumping over the fence into the backyard: about 15 of them. They got into the house, separated me [from the rest of the family], took computers and everything. Then they took me to the church. They searched the building; took everything: computers, data, everything. Then they put a black bag over my head and took me away.”   Pastor Dmitry spent 8 days in prison, where he was interrogated by Russian forces 3-4 hours daily: “In the first interrogation they told me they had a command to kill me. … They said, ‘We hate Americans, evangelicals and Nazis – and you are all three!’”
  • He witnessed Russians taking all the crosses from all the Protestant churches in the city, and recounts how soldiers “came to worship services and stopped the services and took fingerprints of everyone in the congregation. Then they took the building. Our former church is now a police department.’”
  • Pastor Dmitry credits the prayers of Christians for his miraculous prison release. With his family under threat, they ultimately fled to Poland.  From his base in Poland, Pastor Dmitry supports an underground network of churches supporting about 120 people in occupied Ukraine.    

Pastor Dmitry continues to have passion for seeing people turn to Christ. “The church is not to wait until the war is over; that will be too late. If people are to be changed they need Christ.“ 

  • Russian soldiers who captured a Ukrainian Baptist pastor tortured him over 6 weeks because of his Christian faith.  He was left with “one wound baring his leg bone, internal organs damaged, teeth knocked out, eardrums burst.”  He described his beatings: “I had a bag on my head and my hands were handcuffed to my legs. Electric wires were connected to my genitals. They beat me with batons, an iron pipe, a wooden stick.”  The pastor described how he was mocked for becoming Baptist.  He explained that for Russian soldiers, Baptists are “American spies.”  When the soldiers asked what God he served, he responded “The Holy Trinity: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”  They then beat him so badly they thought he was dead.  (Baptist Press’ Diana Chandler, “Stories Recorded Of Ukrainian Christians Tortured By Russia,” Baptist Standard, 3/8/24)
  • A Ukrainian believer who was tortured for 25 days by Russians explains that because evangelical Christians in Ukraine are associated with America, they are frequently singled out for torture and abuse by Russian soldiers. The Institute for Religious Freedom reports Russian soldiers saying: “Evangelical believers like you should be completely destroyed…a simple shooting will be too easy for you. You need to be buried alive.’” (Steven Moore and Jason Jay Smart, “Washington Insider: US Poll – Evangelical Christians Are Key To Unlocking Additional Aid,” KyivPost.com, 11/1/23)
  • Russian forces repeatedly shut down Protestant churches; parishioners threatened with arrest if they choose to worship outside of church. Says one church leader: “I never thought in the 21st century, in [a] free country as Ukraine, it was possible to experience this level of persecution. … The separatists saw Protestant Christians as enemies. They viewed us as cults. All the Protestant churches in the city were either taken over by rebels or forced to close. We were forbidden to meet for services and the leadership forced to leave or be under risk of arrest.’” (Aila Slisco, “Russia Advances ‘Persecution Campaign’ Against Evangelicals in Ukraine: ISW,” Newsweek, 5/16/23)
  • This article notes religious elements of the Russian invasion are often overlooked.  Ukrainian religious communities in Russian-occupied Crimea have faced suppression and discrimination since 2014.  After Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, the religious dimensions of Russia’s war of aggression have spread as Russia “expands and intensifies its attacks on the Ukrainian people and culture. This has included the repression of beliefs as well as physical attacks on religious leaders, relics, and places of worship.”
  • Bishop Ivan Rusyn of the Ukrainian Evangelical Church said the war “is about the very existence of our freedom, identity, values, and culture,” emphasizing that people in Russian-occupied territories “are being targeted simply for practicing a faith different to that imposed by Russia,” and that pastors and chaplains are being murdered.  He begs American audiences to “please hear our cry.” 
  • The article cites dozens of cases of targeted persecution of clergy and acts pressuring a range of religions, and looting, destruction, or damage to hundreds of religious sites in the first year of the Russian invasion. The article also references expert testimony to the United Nations detailing violence against Ukrainian religious communities including disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture, and unlawful deportations.
  • The report details the danger to Christians in keeping Christian materials, revealing their faith in writing (including in blogs, Facebook, etc.), and accessing Christian radio or TV, or Christian materials on the internet.
  • Religious conversion has been forbidden.
  • Parents have been hindered in raising their children according to Christian beliefs, Christian wedding celebrations have been thwarted, Christian baptisms have been hindered, children of Christians have been harassed because of the faith of their parents.
  • Christians have been shadowed by police, their telephone lines have been tapped, and their emails are read/censored.  There is community pressure to renounce their Christian faith. Christians have been fined, interrogated, and reported to police for faith-related reasons, and are hindered in expressing their views or opinions in public.
  • Church activities have been monitored, disturbed, and obstructed; Christian preaching and teaching and have been monitored; Christian published materials have been seized and destroyed.
  • Christians and Christian organizations are not allowed to share their faith openly with non-Christians.  Protestant and Evangelical churches have been prevented from presenting their faith through local or national radio and TV, Internet, social media and cell phones.
  • Senator Grassley highlights his discussion with Dr. Ivan Rusyn, president of the Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary, whose seminary, which trains Evangelical ministers from various Protestant backgrounds, was hit by six Russian rockets.  Dr. Rusyn described Russian soldiers occupying his home, the kidnapping of religious leaders, and how “evangelicals are singled out for persecution just like in the days of the old Soviet Union.”
  • The Russian federation banned “missionary activities” such as prayer, and required churches and religious organizations to register with the Russian Government.  This law is used to prosecute American Baptist and Pentecostal missionaries operating in Russia, to outlaw most Mormon missionary work, and to burn foreign-distributed Bibles not properly registered.  Under the law, the Russian Federation has persecuted Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans and Orthodox groups unaffiliated with the state.  Four evangelical Christian groups have been labeled ‘Undesirable,’ effectively banning them.
  • Areport by the Institute for the Study of War revealed the most common victims of Russian religious persecution after Ukrainian Orthodox are Protestants, particularly evangelical Baptists.  In Russia, Protestants of all denominations were the victims of 34 percent of the reported persecution events.  In Ukraine, Protestants were the victims of 35 percent and 48 percent of the reported persecutions in occupied Kherson and Zaporizhia, respectively. Protestants suffered 66% of the reported repression events in occupied Mariupol City.
  • Senator Grassley brought to light reports of Russian soldiers calling Baptists “American spies” and “enemies of the Russian Orthodox people.”  One Russian officer told their workers that “Evangelical believers like you should be completely destroyed…a simple shooting will be too easy for you. You need to be buried alive.”
  • The Tavrisky Christian Institute’s 40 staff and 300 students had to flee after Russian troops occupied the campus, converting it into a military base, looting computers and equipment and burning Bibles.  The pastors who stayed behind were beaten and told they should be “buried alive.”
  • Since February of 2022 when Russia’s full-scale invasion began, Russian military has destroyed, damaged and looted at least 640 places of worship including churches, monasteries, and synagogues.  They have killed at least 39 priests, pastors, and monks; and practices such as illegal imprisonment, torture, physical abuse and disappearances of religious leaders are common.
  • Ukrainian protestants, who are approximately 4% of the population, are disproportionately targeted for their faith. Evangelicals, including Pentecostals, Adventists, Baptists, and others are targeted as “American spies,” “sectarians” and “enemies of the Russian Orthodox people.”
  • Prior to the Russian invasion, eastern and southern Ukraine had thriving communities of Baptists and evangelical Christians, built primarily with the help of US missionaries.  The communities included a Christian university, seminaries, and publishing houses.

Ukrainian religious leaders plea for help to be free again – the Pastor of the Tavrisky Christian Institute states “we will only be able to return to our campus near Kherson when this territory is liberated, and the Russians will not be able to shell us anymore. And for this, we need the military, financial and prayer support from our U.S. brethren.”

Russia is Waging a War Against Christians in Ukraine
85%
Christian Population

Fast Facts

Defenders of Faith and Religious Freedom in Ukraine

The Russian Federation is waging a war against Christians in Ukraine & occupied territories.

The Russian Federation is waging a war against Christians in Ukraine & occupied territories.

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In Russian-occupied territories, people of faith are systematically persecuted.  

In Russian-occupied territories, people of faith are systematically persecuted.  

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Evangelicals are disproportionately targeted by Russian forces.

Evangelicals are disproportionately targeted by Russian forces.

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Take Action Now!

Join us in standing up for persecuted Christians in Ukraine and defending their right to practice their faith.

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For Christians in Ukraine.

EDUCATE

Raise awareness by distributing INFORMATION to your church and in your community about the plight of Christians in Ukraine.

Educate others about the crimes against Christians and Christianity being perpetrated by the Russian Federation. 

RAISE YOUR VOICE

ASK your Congressional representatives to SUPPORT our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, PROTECT their freedom of religion, and DEFEND them against Russian aggressors.


Wait – Don’t Scroll Away …

See How Many places of worship Russian military has destroyed, damaged and looted

The Russian federation banned “missionary activities” such as prayer, and required churches and religious organizations to register with the Russian Government.  This law is used to prosecute American Baptist and Pentecostal missionaries operating in Russia, to outlaw most missionary work, and to burn foreign-distributed Bibles not properly registered.  Under the law, the Russian Federation has persecuted Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans and Orthodox groups unaffiliated with the state.  Four evangelical Christian groups have been labeled ‘Undesirable,’ effectively banning them.

TAKE ACTION NOW!
We Must Act Now!

As Christians, we are all members of God’s Kingdom, united through Christ.

Ukraine is the Bible Belt of Eastern Europe, with more than a thousand-year Christian history and an 85% Christian population. Christians must not watch passively while our brothers and sisters in Ukraine are being harassed, intimidated, persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, and murdered simply for practicing their faith. We must stand up to protect and defend them – through prayer, by contributing our own resources, and by urging our elected officials to support Christians in Ukraine in their fight for survival against Russian persecution.  

Defenders of Faith and Religious Freedom in Ukraine was established to shine a spotlight on the persecution of Christians in Ukraine, and to advocate for continued U.S. support to secure Ukrainian independence and, with that, religious freedom.

As Christians, we are all members of God’s Kingdom, united through Christ.

“When One Of Us Suffers, We All Suffer Together”

(1 Corinthians 12:26)

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