The Christian gospel is not being well served by Putin:
All Christians should be concerned about the persecution of the faith wherever it is found. Evangelicals especially who depend upon religious freedom to spread the gospel should stand up and speak out when their rights to evangelise are threatened or restricted.
With that in mind, let me examine the situation in Putin’s Russia. We sometimes see various reports telling us that religion is under threat in Ukraine. When and where that is the case, it should be called out. But we must not be afraid of looking at the opposite side of the story. Russia is not exactly a safe haven for evangelical Christianity or other Christian minority groups.
In fact, evangelicals and others have long warned about the crackdown of Christianity in Russia, especially if it is not of the official Russian Orthodox Church variety. Here I will share just some of the voices calling this out. Back in 2019 for example, John Stonestreet discussed this, with these opening words:
When you think of Christian persecution, Russia isn’t usually top of mind. After all, nearly 80 percent of Russians identify as Orthodox Christians, and the Russian Orthodox church enjoys the support of Vladimir Putin. But for other Christians, the story is different. Baptists and Pentecostals have already felt the sting of Russia’s severe anti-evangelism laws, with officials raiding churches, arresting people for sharing their faith, and even shuttering theological schools.
In fact, a German court just accepted a Russian Baptist family’s appeal for asylum. They’ve endured “insults, physical violence, and threatening phone calls over their missionary activities, and police refused to offer protection.” https://www.breakpoint.org/the-point-christian-persecution-in-russia/
A 2022 article discusses how the invasion of Ukraine has made it difficult for Christians there:
As the world’s focus remains on the devastating violence being inflicted on the people of Ukraine, many are wondering what this could mean for those of the country’s Christian community. In the days leading up to the initial attack by Russian forces, pastors spoke messages of encouragement and care. In fact, so many Ukrainians were seeking God for needed comfort, and wanting to turn to the Scriptures in search of answers, that the Bible Society store in Kyiv ran out of Bibles.
If Russia happens to be successful in taking control of Ukraine, severe religious restrictions will be anticipated. At present, evangelism is illegal in Russia except in designated, registered locations. Those who spread the Gospel outside of those locations face strict fines. In Russian-occupied Crimea, fines were levied for “conducting missionary activity” at least 23 times during 2021. https://vomcanada.com/ua-2022-03-03.htm
And a 2023 piece says this:
The Rev. Mihail Britsin, an evangelical Christian pastor from Melitopol in southeastern Ukraine, is focused on a more secular form of salvation these days, praying for the liberation of his city and what remains of his congregation from Russian military domination.
As the one-year anniversary of Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine approaches, representatives of Christian and Jewish communities are speaking out about what they say is the devastation wrought by Russia‘s invasion, the Kremlin’s attempts to co-opt churches in occupied areas, and the repercussions for those who don’t comply. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/feb/9/ukraines-christians-attacked-not-cooperating-russi/
The American evangelist Franklin Graham had to cancel a meeting in Russia:
Rev. Franklin Graham says he is cancelling an evangelical summit in Russia after the government passed a new law placing severe restrictions on Christian evangelization. “We were looking forward to this significant event being held in Russia because no one knows modern Christian persecution better than the church that suffered under communist rule. However, just a few weeks ago Russia passed a law that severely limits Christians’ freedoms,” Graham posted on Facebook in announcing the cancellation of his World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
The law, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, puts a stop to sharing faith in homes, online, and anywhere else except for church buildings. It is considered to be the country’s most restrictive since post-Soviet history. It gives Putin the authority to crack down on nongovernment affiliated churches, according to Archbishop Andrew Maklakov, administrator of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church of America. https://www2.cbn.com/news/world/franklin-graham-cancels-persecution-summit-moscow-over-repressive-law
A documentary has also been made about how evangelicals are treated in Putin’s war in Ukraine:
A new documentary is shining a light on the growing persecution of evangelical Christians here in Ukraine, a crisis that remains largely unknown in the West. “A Faith Under Siege” takes viewers to the front lines, where pastors and missionaries are providing hope amidst the horrors of war.
The Russian war against Ukraine has inflicted devastating tolls, not only on soldiers but also on Christians who refuse to bow to Moscow’s demands. The new documentary aims to expose the truth about religious persecution in Ukraine. Executive producer Colby Barrett explained, “Right now there’s so much propaganda out there around these kind of issues that we wanted to get right to the truth and talk to the people that had suffered under Russian occupation for their faith. And that’s really the heart of the documentary.”
“A Faith Under Siege” features firsthand accounts of pastors, aid workers, and believers who have been captured, tortured, or forced to flee because of their faith. Barrett noted, “The folks that stayed in these war-torn areas to help and to minister to their folks and to others, to provide aid, were really doing some amazing stuff. And what you see when the Russians took over and found these evangelicals, they find them very threatening.” Russian propaganda often claims to uphold traditional values, but on the ground in Ukraine, evangelicals are targeted as threats to the Kremlin’s control.
And just this week another piece featuring Colby Barrett appeared. It says in part:
Putin’s regime seems to be dedicated to destroying both the faith and the will of the Ukrainian people. What happened to that church and to Svitlana is only a glimpse of a wider campaign. But the response of these believers is the real story here. Since 2022, Russian forces have murdered at least 52 Ukrainian Christian leaders and damaged or destroyed 650 churches. Whole denominations have been banned. In occupied areas, believers have been killed, tortured, and driven underground.
I’ve seen Putin’s brutality firsthand. While filming our documentary A Faith Under Siege: Russia’s Hidden War on Ukraine’s Christians, we met Svitlana’s husband Viktor, a Ukrainian Evangelical who was kept in a basement for 25 days by Russian forces. He was beaten with fists, feet, and baseball bats, and repeatedly shocked with a taser. During his imprisonment, a Russian Orthodox Priest tried to “cast demons” from him simply because he was a Protestant Christian. But here’s what Putin didn’t count on: his campaign of violence against faith is backfiring spectacularly.
The growing church in Kyiv isn’t an anomaly; it’s emblematic of a broader spiritual awakening across Ukraine. Almost a third of Ukrainians say their religious faith has grown since the war began. Putin’s bombs aren’t breaking spirits; they’re driving people to prayer, lifting them up as believers. Every missile that falls without killing becomes a testimony. Every church service held under threat becomes an act of defiance. Every new baptism represents Putin’s failure. https://ausprayernet.org.au/2026/01/25/putins-attempt-to-murder-20-evangelical-pastors-backfired/
As I said, we should call out anti-Christian activities wherever they occur. If some Christians want to fully defend Zelensky in everything, they are just as wrong as those Christians who seem obsessed with fully defending Putin. He is NOT some Christian champion we should all bow down to.
The truth is, Putin knows he needs to keep the Russian Orthodox Church onside to maintain power, and so he is happy to say he is pro-family, and do things like rail against homosexuality, and so on. But that does not make him a pro-family Christian, but just another shrewd political operator.
The former KGB chief is quite happy to imprison or assassinate political opponents and do anything to stay in power. He is NOT the messiah that some Christians seem to think he is, nor is he seeking to bless the world with Christianity and democracy.
Should we be praying for any persecution of Christians in Ukraine and holding Zelensky to account? Absolutely. And we should do exactly the same with Putin. We should add him to our list of leaders we are praying for – that they be improved or removed.
