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The Russians of Italy

The Russians of Italy, numbering approximately 39,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an East Slavic people whose culture has developed across the vast landscapes of Eastern Europe and northern Asia, shaped by Orthodox Christianity, agricultural and frontier traditions, and strong state institutions. They mostly adhere to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Russian is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Italy
People Cluster: Slav, Eastern
Primary Language(s): Russian (rus)
Primary Religion(s): Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Population: 39,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000350
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Pray for the Russians of Italy

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!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

85%
%
Eastern Orthodox Christia… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Russian
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Russian Speakers

Media Resources in Russian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film
The SaviorView Film

6 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Russian:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1876 Synodal Bible, Light of the East Mission Anniversary Bible✓✓✓
2014 Bible League International✓
Holy Bible, New Russian Translation✓
Holy Synod Version✓

4 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Russian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Russians 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 Russians:
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 Russians of Italy

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
readRomans 3:23

Pray that those who live in fear, guilt and discontentment because of sin will see their need for change, hear, and receive the good news of freedom from sin through Christ.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
readLuke 2:17

Pray that the lost will receive the good news of salvation in God's Son, have hearts eager to share it with others, and that all who hear will respond with wonder and faith!

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
readLamentations 3:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the goodness of the Lord as they wait on Him to answer their cries for help.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.
readEphesians 6:18b-19

Ask God to give believers He sends to the lost of this people group the boldness and clarity to proclaim the mystery of the gospel in a way that people can understand.

Russian Across Countries (ROP3 - 108452) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

40 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
RussiansPG039316RussiansRussian Federation108,240,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG042915RussiansUkraine7,020,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG039315RussiansKazakhstan4,545,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG046469RussiansUnited States961,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG042904RussiansBelarus776,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000998RussiansUzbekistan551,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000849RussiansLatvia506,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000781RussiansEstonia330,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG049403RussiansGermany260,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000840RussiansKyrgyzstan246,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG043463RussiansCanada200,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000853RussiansLithuania155,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000867RussiansMoldova132,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000984RussiansTurkmenistan111,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG048817RussiansAzerbaijan108,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG033639RussiansCyprus96,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000119RussiansFinland80,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000193RussiansFrance75,000Engaged yet UnreachedFrenchEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000069RussiansBelgium64,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000675RussiansUnited Kingdom64,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000983RussiansTajikistan42,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG046784RussiansCzech Republic42,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000350RussiansItaly39,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG017363RussiansArgentina37,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG015312RussiansMadagascar35,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG000038RussiansAustria32,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG008063RussiansAustralia28,500No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000800RussiansGeorgia27,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000567RussiansSweden25,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG016303RussiansCuba22,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG007374RussiansChina19,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000745RussiansBulgaria14,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG046696RussiansPoland14,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG007587RussiansNorth Korea5,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000429RussiansNetherlands5,300Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG016491RussiansVenezuela4,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG015414RussiansMozambique3,700Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG017453RussiansChile2,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG017587RussiansPeru1,400Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG000542RussiansSvalbard1,200Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity

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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