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The Russians of Svalbard

The Russians of Svalbard, numbering approximately 1,200 people, are Unengaged and 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: Svalbard
People Cluster: Slav, Eastern
Primary Language(s): Russian (rus)
Primary Religion(s): Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Population: 1,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000542
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Pray for the Russians of Svalbard

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

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Russians:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Russians of Svalbard

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
readPsalm 1:6

As many look for hope in worldly pleasures, pray they will hear and accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
readDaniel 7:13-14

Pray that the gospel will advance so that all peoples will come to know the Son of Man, who has been given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and that they will bow before Him and serve Him forever.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples."
readJohn 8:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Christ daily, depending on Him for every need.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
read2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will serve others in Jesus' name, and the lost will have an opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

40 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
RussiansPG048817RussiansAzerbaijan108,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG015312RussiansMadagascar35,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG016491RussiansVenezuela4,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG039316RussiansRussian Federation108,230,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG017587RussiansPeru1,400Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG039315RussiansKazakhstan4,550,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG008063RussiansAustralia28,500No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG015414RussiansMozambique3,700Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG016303RussiansCuba22,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG017363RussiansArgentina37,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG017453RussiansChile2,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG033639RussiansCyprus96,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG007587RussiansNorth Korea5,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
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
RussiansPG049403RussiansGermany260,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000781RussiansEstonia330,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000069RussiansBelgium64,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000119RussiansFinland81,000Engaged 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
RussiansPG000038RussiansAustria32,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000800RussiansGeorgia27,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000840RussiansKyrgyzstan246,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000849RussiansLatvia506,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000853RussiansLithuania154,000No 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

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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