Ukrainian and US officials along with clergymen report that evangelical pastors have been disproportionately affected in Russian occupied areas, with dozens abducted, tortured, and forced into exile from their hometowns. Ukrainian officials contrast Russia’s religious repression with their country’s traditions of religious pluralism and freedom of worship. Underground evangelicalsIn the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, a pastor’s evangelical church was raided during a service by Russian troops in September 2022. You run a nest of American spies,” Russian soldiers told the evangelical pastor Mykhailo Brytsyn after interrogating him for hours. “The devil has not changed his face, or his goals,” said the pastor, now helping other evangelicals persecuted in occupied areas.

Source: Wall Street Journal June 16, 2024 09:20 UTC