The Russians of North Korea

The Russians of North Korea, numbering approximately 5,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as 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 are an Diaspora people, with Russian as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Slav, Eastern people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples. Their primary religion is Eastern Orthodox Christianity. They primarily speak Russian.

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

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: North Korea
People Cluster: Slav, Eastern
Primary Language(s): Russian (rus)
Primary Religion(s): Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Population: 5,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007587
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Russians of North Korea

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.

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

Bible Resources in Russian:

4 entries

Or check out the Russian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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 North Korea

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
readPsalm 25:5

Pray that the gospel will advance and that God will lead people in His truth, bringing many to salvation.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
read1 Peter 2:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember every day that Jesus' death on the cross brings real healing and restoration to their souls and joyfully share this good news with others.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
read2 Corinthians 1:11

Pray that many people will join in praying for the spread of the gospel here, and that God will answer these prayers by drawing more people to Himself.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

40 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▲LanguageReligion
RussiansRussiansSvalbard1,200Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansSweden25,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansChina19,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansVenezuela4,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansChile2,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansPeru1,400Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansCyprus96,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansPoland14,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansAustria32,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansBelgium64,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansFinland80,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansFrance74,500Engaged yet UnreachedFrenchEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansItaly39,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansNetherlands5,300Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansBulgaria14,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansEstonia330,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansGeorgia27,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansKyrgyzstan370,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansLatvia507,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansTajikistan42,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansTurkmenistan111,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUzbekistan549,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansNorth Korea5,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansMadagascar34,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansMozambique3,700Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCuba22,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansArgentina36,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansKazakhstan4,540,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansRussian Federation108,420,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansBelarus776,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCanada200,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUnited States960,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCzech Republic42,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansAzerbaijan108,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansUnited Kingdom64,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansLithuania155,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansMoldova132,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansAustralia28,500No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUkraine7,035,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansGermany260,000No 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.

Scroll to Top