Evangelicals in Ukraine oppose the transfer of territory for peace

Representatives of Protestant religious associations of Christians of Evangelical Faith (UCCEF, Baptist, etc.) oppose a peaceful settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian war through territorial concessions to Ukraine. A representative of the Christian Evangelical Faith Maxim Vasin is concerned that in the Ukrainian territories currently under Russian control, evangelicals will not be allowed to freely practice their religious beliefs. This was reported by Christian Daily International.

“For evangelical believers in Ukraine, it is important not only to achieve peace for themselves, but they want to achieve peace and freedom for their brothers and sisters in the regions under Russian control. That is why it will not be a perfect agreement, a peace agreement, if thousands of evangelical Christians continue to be persecuted by the Russian authorities for years. Obviously, if Russia retains control over some parts of the territory of Ukraine, there will be many atrocities, religious persecution, especially against evangelicals. And every year it will get worse and worse. That is why I want to believe that the entire territory will be liberated from Russia — this is the way to restore religious freedom in this region. It is important to liberate all the territories of Ukraine and put pressure on Russia to stop targeted religious persecution, using measures such as recognizing it as a state sponsor of terrorism with significant sanctions,” — Vasin said.

As we reported earlier, as of August 31, 2024, the majority of those killed in the Russian-Ukrainian war were clergymen and religious leaders who belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (32 people). The number of killed UOC clergy is three times higher than the same figure for the OCU, followed by representatives of the Evangelical Christians (14 people).