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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Veps of Russian Federation

The Veps of Russian Federation, numbering approximately 6,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Russia and can also be known as Chukhari, Vepsian, Chudy. They are an Indigenous people, in the Finno-Ugric people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Eastern Orthodox. They primarily speak Russian.

Veps in Russian Federation photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 De Visu - Shutterstock Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: European Peoples
Country: Russian Federation
People Cluster: Finno-Ugric
Primary Language(s): Russian (rus)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Eastern Orthodox
Population: 6,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048830

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Pray for the Veps of Russian Federation

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Eastern Orthodox
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Eastern Or… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Russian
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Russian Speakers

Media Resources in Russian:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Russian:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

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Next steps for the Veps

The Veps are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Veps

The Veps 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.

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

Next steps for the Veps

The Veps are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Veps of Russian Federation

"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
readJohn 8:32

Pray for those who live enslaved to sin to hear and receive the truth of the gospel and be set free.

O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
readPsalm 104:24

Pray that they will see the wisdom and power of God in His creation and praise Him for His mighty works.

This God - his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
readPsalm 18:30

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have access to His Word and the ability to understand it, so that they can grow in their faith and find refuge in Him.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
readPsalm 9:18

Pray that God will raise up believers who can help meet emotional and physical needs among this people group. Ask Him to open doors for them and give them the courage to walk into difficult situations and share the hope of the gospel boldly.

Vepsian reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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 Definitions page.

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