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The Balkan Romani of Ukraine

The Balkan Romani of Ukraine, numbering approximately 300,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are the Balkan branch of the Roma people, defined mainly by their shared dialects and regional history rather than a single unified ethnic identity. They mostly adhere to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Balkan Romani is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Ukraine
People Cluster: Romani
Primary Language(s): Balkan Romani (rmn)
Primary Religion(s): Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Population: 300,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000986
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Pray for the Balkan Romani 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

70%
%
Eastern Orthodox Christia… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Balkan Romani
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Romani, Balkan Speakers

Media Resources in Balkan Romani:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Balkan Romani:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Balkan Romani bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Balkan Romani 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 Balkan Romani:
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 Balkan Romani of Ukraine

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
readJohn 14:6

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will recognize Him as the only way to the Father and follow Him in faith.

Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia."
readRomans 16:5

Pray for houses to be meeting places for Christians and that God will advance the gospel and grow His Church through natural familial and community relationships.

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
readGenesis 50:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will forgive those who do them harm and trust God as they walk in His ways.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

Roma, Balkan Across Countries (ROP3 - 108397) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

12 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Balkan RomaniPG000986Balkan RomaniUkraine300,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniEastern Orthodox Christianity
Balkan RomaniPG039305Balkan RomaniSerbia273,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniEthnoreligion
Balkan RomaniPG000737Balkan RomaniBulgaria267,000No Longer UnreachedBalkan RomaniUnaffiliated
Balkan RomaniPG000856Balkan RomaniNorth Macedonia105,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniSunni Islam
Balkan RomaniPG024542Balkan RomaniTurkiye80,500Unengaged and UnreachedBalkan RomaniSunni Islam
Balkan RomaniPG000861Balkan RomaniMoldova47,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniUnaffiliated
Balkan RomaniPG024141Balkan RomaniIran35,000Unengaged and UnreachedBalkan RomaniSunni Islam
Balkan RomaniPG024030Balkan RomaniAfghanistan18,500Unengaged and UnreachedBalkan RomaniSunni Islam
Balkan RomaniPG000811Balkan RomaniGreece11,500Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniUnaffiliated
Balkan RomaniPG000134Balkan RomaniFrance10,500No Longer UnreachedBalkan RomaniEthnoreligion
Balkan RomaniPG039304Balkan RomaniSlovenia10,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniEthnoreligion
Balkan RomaniPG000312Balkan RomaniItaly2,500No Longer UnreachedBalkan RomaniEthnoreligion

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.

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