Evangelical Christians in Russia were forced to pay a "tax on faithfulness" in 2022, which will likely increase this year as part of a government crackdown on non-Orthodox faiths, rights investigators tell Worthy News.
...continue reading this storyA new report by the Ukrainian-based Institute for Religious Freedom (IRF) shows that the Russian army destroyed or damaged 270 houses of worship, religious, educational institutions, and sacred sites in Ukraine in the first five months of the invasion launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February, Church Leaders (CL) reports.
...continue reading this storyRussian soldiers have been shutting down churches in occupied parts of Ukraine forcing Ukrainian Christians to meet in secret, Christian Today (CT) reports.
...continue reading this storyA Ukrainian Baptist pastor and his wife are still missing after being kidnapped in Russian-occupied Mariupol on September 21 by armed men wearing Russian army uniforms, Church Leaders (CL) reports.
...continue reading this storyAuthorities have now ordered the congregation at the New Life Church in Minsk, Belarus, to stop even the outdoor parking lot meetings they were reduced to after city officials sealed their church building last year, Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) reports. Ideologically close and loyal to Russia’s President Putin, Belarus’ authoritarian regime has criminalized unregistered Christian activity.
...continue reading this storyA Christian radio station that ministers to Russian speakers has had to relocate from Ukraine to Hungary since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed an almost total ban on Russian music and television in July, Christianity Today (CT) reports.
...continue reading this storyA call has been issued for evangelicals around the world to join in prayer on August 24 to pray for an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Christian Today (CT) reports. Organized by the World Evangelical Alliance and by the European Evangelical Alliance, the day of prayer was chosen to coincide with Independence Day in Ukraine.
...continue reading this storyAround 400 Ukrainian Baptist congregations have been displaced and lost since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Church Leaders reports.
...continue reading this storyTwo people were killed, and 12 were wounded in a terrorist rocket attack on the Greek Orthodox Hagia Sophia Church in Al-Suqaylabiyah, Syria last week, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
...continue reading this storyAn influential U.S.-based Christian advocacy group has urged the Biden administration to reverse its "baffling error" and add Nigeria back to its list of "Countries of Particular Concern” (CPC).
...continue reading this story