Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Ruthenians of Ukraine

The Ruthenians of Ukraine, numbering approximately 332,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Eastern Slavic ethnic group indigenous to historical Kievan Rus' state that encompasses parts of modern Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Rusyn is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Hutsul

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Ukraine
People Cluster: Slav, Eastern
Primary Language(s): Rusyn (rue)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 332,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046961
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Ruthenians of Ukraine

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

81%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Rusyn
Language Family: Indo-European

75%
%
Rusyn Speakers

Media Resources in Rusyn:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Rusyn:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Rusyn bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Ruthenians are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Ruthenians:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Ruthenians of Ukraine

For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.
readLuke 19:10

Pray that those who are lost will respond to the One who came to seek and save the lost, and experience the joy of being found.

For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.
readMalachi 1:11

Pray that they will worship God in spirit and truth, offering Him the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving that He desires.

Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
readActs 2:47

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will use their faith and their church community as a testimony to the watching world and grow His Church.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Ruthene (Rusyn) Across Countries (ROP3 - 108457) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
RutheniansPG046695RutheniansPoland10,500No Longer UnreachedRusynRoman Catholicism
RutheniansPG046961RutheniansUkraine332,000Engaged yet UnreachedRusynRoman Catholicism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

Scroll to Top