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.

According to the North Caucasian Evangelical Alliance, at the beginning of 2024, substantial groups of locals in almost every ethnic group in the Russian part of the Caucasus professed faith in Jesus.

From the independence in 1991 to the ongoing war sparked by Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s efforts to recover and assert its true history have become acts of resistance, healing, and hope.

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

‘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 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.

What motivates these emigrants and their children, after years in Germany, to move to a place where their families suffered decades of humiliation, persecution and oppression? Where does the sudden enthusiasm for Russia come from?

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. 

Tearfund, Evangelical Alliance and other organisations reject what they describe as a “cruel” and “unwise” decision.

Snippets of ‘a better story’ could be heard last week at the ARC conference. But what we need is not a white, Anglo-American, conservative, capitalist, Christian nationalist story attempting to turn the clock back to ‘Christendom’.

Three years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, TWR is sharing the hope of Jesus in the region and calls to pray.

We will not stop praying. We are determined and compelled by love to stand in the gap for the vulnerable and oppressed. Three years is enough. We pray for sustainable peace and justice.

The United States should act in accordance with the beliefs it claims to hold, says Ruslan Kukharchuck. Other evangelicals in Europe are wondering if US Christian ministries will also cool down their relationship with churches on this side of the Atlantic.

A Ukrainian evangelical leader calls on Europeans to “take primary responsibility” in the resolution of the conflict.

Two and a half years after the Russian invasion, Germany was hosting more than one million people. Together with Ukraine and the Czech Republic, they have taken in 60% of all refugees in the union.

Few remember how distrusting, fearful and uncertain the post-war years of the late 1940s were, with lives, bodies, families, cities and nations having been broken, disrupted and destroyed. How do you rebuild out of such brokenness?

Europe debates whether to accept Trump’s challenge to raise military spending to 5%. But followers of Jesus are not recognised by their political orientation, but by their affiliation with the God of Peace.

Pundits warn that in 2025 we are heading back to the law of the jungle, a world where might is right and money manipulates.

Jesus talked of wheat and tares growing up together. Here is a random sample of both in the last 25 years.

In January, the state Duma will discuss a law that would end all religious activity in residential buildings. Orthodox Church, Catholic Church and Adventists also oppose an initiative that “creates ground for interfaith conflicts”.

After the fall of the al-Asad regime, we are reminded of cases such as Libya and Iraq, where war did not lead to stable governments.

“The church is still figuring out the best way to help the people living under this new reality”, says a pastor in the Syrian city. Over 700 people have been killed so far in this latest attack.