The Russians of Cyprus

The Russians of Cyprus, numbering approximately 96,000 people, are Unengaged and 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. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Russian

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Cyprus
People Cluster: Slav, Eastern
Primary Language(s): Russian (rus)
Primary Religion(s): Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Population: 96,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG033639
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Russians of Cyprus

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

96%
%
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

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 Cyprus

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self- made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
readColossians 2:23

Pray for those without Christ, that they will see the emptiness of human traditions and turn to the truth and grace found in Jesus.

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
readIsaiah 40:11

Pray that the lost will come to know the tender care of the Good Shepherd, who gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart.

Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
readPsalm 111:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will praise the Lord with their whole heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
readJohn 1:12

Pray that believers will have the opportunity to clearly share the good news with the lost here, so that all people can be invited to trust in Jesus and become children of God.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

40 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
RussiansRussiansSvalbard1,200Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansPeru1,400Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansChile2,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansMozambique3,700Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansVenezuela4,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansNetherlands5,300Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansNorth Korea5,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansBulgaria14,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansPoland14,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansChina19,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCuba22,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansSweden25,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansGeorgia27,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansAustralia28,500No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansAustria32,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansMadagascar34,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansArgentina36,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansItaly39,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCzech Republic42,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansTajikistan42,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansBelgium64,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUnited Kingdom64,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansFrance74,500Engaged yet UnreachedFrenchEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansFinland80,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCyprus96,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansAzerbaijan108,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansTurkmenistan111,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansMoldova132,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansLithuania155,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCanada200,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansKyrgyzstan247,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansGermany260,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansEstonia330,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansLatvia507,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUzbekistan549,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansBelarus776,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUnited States961,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansKazakhstan4,540,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUkraine7,030,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansRussian Federation108,420,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated

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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