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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

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
readIsaiah 59:2

Pray that those who are separated from God will turn to Him in humility and repentance, seeking His forgiveness and the restoration of a right relationship with their Heavenly Father.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray for the gospel to advance and for more people to be brought into God's family through the reconciliation Jesus offers them.

Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
readPsalm 105:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will glory in His holy name and that their hearts will rejoice.

Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!
readPsalm 105:1

Pray that many among them will call on the name of Jesus, develop a heart for the nations, and go to places where the gospel has not yet been received.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

40 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▲NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
RussiansPG000038RussiansAustria32,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000069RussiansBelgium64,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000119RussiansFinland80,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000193RussiansFrance75,000Engaged yet UnreachedFrenchEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000350RussiansItaly39,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000429RussiansNetherlands5,300Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000542RussiansSvalbard1,200Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000567RussiansSweden25,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000675RussiansUnited Kingdom64,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000745RussiansBulgaria14,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000781RussiansEstonia330,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000800RussiansGeorgia27,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000840RussiansKyrgyzstan246,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000849RussiansLatvia506,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000853RussiansLithuania155,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000867RussiansMoldova132,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000983RussiansTajikistan42,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000984RussiansTurkmenistan111,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000998RussiansUzbekistan551,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG007374RussiansChina19,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG007587RussiansNorth Korea5,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG008063RussiansAustralia28,500No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG015312RussiansMadagascar35,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG015414RussiansMozambique3,700Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG016303RussiansCuba22,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG016491RussiansVenezuela4,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG017363RussiansArgentina37,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG017453RussiansChile2,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG017587RussiansPeru1,400Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG033639RussiansCyprus96,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG039315RussiansKazakhstan4,545,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG039316RussiansRussian Federation108,230,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG042904RussiansBelarus776,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG042915RussiansUkraine7,020,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG043463RussiansCanada200,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG046469RussiansUnited States961,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG046696RussiansPoland14,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG046784RussiansCzech Republic42,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG048817RussiansAzerbaijan108,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG049403RussiansGermany260,000No Longer 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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