The Russians of Russian Federation

The Russians of Russian Federation, numbering approximately 108,260,000 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 Unaffiliated and Russian is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Russian

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Russian Federation
People Cluster: Slav, Eastern
Primary Language(s): Russian (rus)
Primary Religion(s): Unaffiliated
Population: 108,260,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG039316
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Russians of Russian Federation

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: Unaffiliated
Religious Affiliation: Unaffiliated

65%
%
Unaffiliated 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:

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 Russian Federation

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those living in darkness and the shadow of death will see a great light and turn to the Lord for salvation.

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
read1 John 4:21

Pray that the good news of God's love will reach everyone in this people group, and that His love will compel them to love others as Christ has loved us.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
readPhilippians 3:20-21

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember their citizenship is in heaven.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures the discernment they need to recognize the spiritual battle they are fighting. Pray God will protect their faith as they abide in Him.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

40 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
RussiansRussiansAzerbaijan108,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansMadagascar35,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansVenezuela4,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansRussian Federation108,260,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansPeru1,400Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansKazakhstan4,545,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansAustralia28,500No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansMozambique3,700Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCuba22,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansArgentina37,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansChile2,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCyprus96,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansNorth Korea5,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansBelarus776,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUkraine7,025,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCanada200,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUnited States961,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansPoland14,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCzech Republic42,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansGermany260,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansEstonia330,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansBelgium64,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansFinland80,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansFrance75,000Engaged yet UnreachedFrenchEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansItaly39,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansNetherlands5,300Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansSvalbard1,200Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansSweden25,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUnited Kingdom64,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansBulgaria14,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansAustria32,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansGeorgia27,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansKyrgyzstan247,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansLatvia506,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansLithuania155,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansMoldova132,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansTajikistan42,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansTurkmenistan111,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUzbekistan551,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansChina19,000Unengaged 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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