Nowhere am I welcomed more warmly than in the very conservative, unregistered Baptist communities of Russia. This applies to both Siberia and Kaliningrad region. Shortly after arriving at a church, a brother usually approaches the guest and asks about their identity and origin. Since I am from a conservative Mennonite family, the doors open quickly. This immediate questioning is certainly also for security reasons and is not motivated solely by hospitality. However, the subsequent invitation to lunch reaches far beyond security concerns. For someone who has been socialised in a church environment, it is far more pleasant to be approached and questioned than to be ignored.

Kaliningrad's Baptists are on the upswing. That’s the assessment of Nikolay Vladimirovich Kazakov, since March 2024, senior pastor of the city’s “Peace Church.”

Recently, 200 Ukrainian evangelicals travelled to Washington, D.C. in order to participate in a government-sponsored “Ukrainian Week” from 3 to 8 February. More than a few of them were then present at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in that city on 6 February. Roughly 15 pastors arrived from Russia to attend the Breakfast.

“Our meeting today can be regarded as historic!” For the first time in history, top-level representatives from the Protestant churches of Russia and China are meeting on each others’ soil.

More than a few sources quietly confirm that Ukrainian Protestants loyal to Kiev do not approve of humanitarian aid in Russian-held zones. In hopes of keeping conflicts to a minimum, Russian Protestants have consequently remained very tight-lipped regarding the aid they supply to Donbass.

An interconfessional declaration attacking the concept of a Russian World was published in Kiev on 10 January 2024. It was distributed further by the “European Evangelical Alliance”.

Why do Russians climb walls when they hear assurances that the Russian attack of 24 February 2022 was “unprovoked and unjustified”?

In Russia itself, however, Reimer sees the mood as more differentiated. According to his impression, Russia's Protestants do not support the Orthodox concepts of Byzantium and an East Slavic "Russian world".

Shock was the overriding reaction felt by Russia’s Protestants when the invasion of Ukraine broke loose on 24 February.

This article is an update on my long piece from 17 September 2018 in this same file on Ukraine and Moldova.