Pentecosal pastor Nikolay Romanyuk was accused of opposing war against Ukraine. “I do not retract my sermon”, he said in court.

Russian police in Eastern Ukraine raided a Baptist church in Sverdlovsk during Sunday service. They filmed those in attendance and photographed books.

Soldiers and family members of fallen heroes, chaplains, public figures, representatives of churches and religious organisations, were joined at the national breakfast by some 350 invited foreign guests. 

On Monday, 25^th August, I was privileged to be in Kyiv for the National Prayer Breakfast of Ukraine. This is what impressed me most during the two-day visit to the country.

Ukrainians celebrated their 34th anniversary of breaking from the Soviet Union with deep gratitude to God, and for their loved ones who have given their lives to keep their country free.

Put yourselves, if you can, in the shoes of one of their parents: your home has been destroyed, your village invaded, and one or more of your children have been kidnapped by the invaders.

The EEA calls upon Christians across Europe to join in International Prayer Day for Ukraine on Sunday, 24 August 2025, coinciding with the country’s Independence Day.

Trump and Putin show a clear instinct to return to a world in which strong rulers dominate the political stage.

What enables Ukrainians—bombed, displaced, bereaved—to continue believing, rebuilding, resisting, and praying? How does hope survive such devastation?

Between 1933 and 1938, hundreds of Ukraine’s brightest minds were executed, imprisoned, or forced into silence. The regime targeted the very idea of Ukrainian identity.

Stalin, determined to eliminate Ukrainian nationalism and any threat of separatism, resolved to break the will of the Ukrainian people, not with guns, but with hunger.

In war, the first casualty is truth. Nowhere is this more evident than in the long and brutal campaign waged by Moscow — not only against Ukraine’s sovereignty but against its very identity.

Between January and April 2025, 12 prosecutions were brought against evangelical pastors. Most were Baptists, allegedly preaching to non-believers without notifying the authorities.

Ukrainian evangelical churches invited Jan Wessels. “I was deeply impressed by the resilience of the Ukrainian society and the pivotal role that churches play in fostering this resilience”, he told Evangelical Focus.

A cry for peace and justice has come this week from the All Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations. “We are not merely asking — we are crying out. Not for weapons — but for solidarity. Not for sympathy — but for a response. Not for kind words — but for moral and spiritual leadership”.

‘No God But Theirs’ (a one-hour documentary in English) tells the case of Melitopol, a Russian-occupied city in southeastern Ukraine where Christians responded to the invasion with public prayer and mutual support.

The FEREDE is “deeply concerned” about the suffering of children and elderly and prays for “the resumption of serious negotiations leading to a just and sustainable peace”.

The second day of the European Congress on Evangelism focused on the importance of trusting the Bible. Persecuted Christians from Africa and Middle East shared their testimonies, as participants prayed for the Ukraine war after Franklin Graham met Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainians who travelled to Wisła, Poland, to attend the ELF conference did not talk about numbers. They shared stories about children suffering from vicarious trauma, regular Christians praying with soldiers on the front line, and the resilient action of churches serving displaced families.

Just as Jesus is betrayed by a close follower and handed over to unjust powers, Ukraine has faced aggression from a neighbouring nation with deep historical ties.

The “rumours of war” should not take Christians by surprise. Churches must “read the times”, commit to real peacemaking, and pray “lucid” and “not abstract” prayers. Leaders from Sweden, France, Portugal and Spain spoke to Evangelical Focus.

After a first drone damaged the Emmanuil church at night, a second explosion killed a father and his 5-year-old daughter, leaving the mother hospitalised. The family was involved in Christian ministry and had fled eastern Ukraine.

This may be the end of an era, as it was for Augustine when Rome fell; or for the wartime generation enduring the terror of German nationalism. But this is not yet the end. 

Jan Wessels, co-general secretary of the European Evangelical Alliance, speaks to Evangelical Focus. Amid tensions, “our role is to keep the evangelical family together, keep people talking to each other and praying together”, he says.

How should political and Christian leaders respond as a US president unhinges the world order?