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Ukraine ping

ZF: [American Christians are mostly Protestants, and take a strong interest in the welfare of other Protestants around the globe.]

Rev Wright: [Except in Israel.]

Are some Jews in Israel averse to Protestant efforts to introduce Israelis to the faith? Sure. But unlike in Russia, evangelical efforts in Israel are legal. In Russia, Protestant clerics are imprisoned.

https://arriveministries.org/living-as-a-persecuted-christian-in-russia/
[Andrei was a youth pastor and contractor in Russia. An oppressive law that passed in 2016 banned the public sharing of one’s Christian faith. After receiving threats from Russian officials on the lives of his two children, Andrei, his wife Galina and their children fled from Russia as refugees, and arrived in Minnesota in 2019. We interviewed Andrei about life in Russia and the persecution he left behind:

Q: Tell us about how the 2016 Yaravaya law was implemented in Russia?

A: Russia adopted a law making it unconstitutional to be a Christian, even though the (Russian) constitution says you are free to profess any faith. (The Yarovaya law increases regulation of evangelism, including a ban on the performance of “missionary activities” in non-religious settings.)

Based on this law, which is active right now, if you declare that you belief this or that or if you publically invite someone to church, of if you share an invitation to a Christian conference or service on facebook, sometimes even if you just attend church you will receive a huge fine or you can be jailed for up to 3 years. If you represent a church as a pastor or leader, then the fine is $1M rubles ($15,700) and up to 5 years in jail, if they can prove that you were promoting your faith.

It’s not like you have much of a choice; you can either be quiet, or try not to be afraid and continue sharing your faith. Some Christians were imprisoned, others were trying to move across the border into Finland.]

Putin has revived the state monopoly on Christian churches that was created during the Bolshevik era.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarovaya_law
[Criticisms of anti-evangelism provisions

The anti-evangelism provisions of the legislation prompted an outcry of concern and opposition from Russia’s Protestant minority, which makes up about 1% of Russia’s population.[14] According to experts, the law is likely to be interpreted in a way to block churches other than the Russian Orthodox Church from evangelizing ethnic Russians.[14] Religious denominations with a smaller presence in Russia have long been viewed with hostility by government officials and Russian Orthodox religious authorities. The harsh new restrictions on minority religious groups supplemented the requirements under a 1997 law that mandated registration and administrative procedures, which many religious groups found onerous and expensive to comply with.[29]

Thomas J. Reese, the chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said that “Neither these measures nor the currently existing anti-extremism law meet international human rights and religious freedom standards” and that the Yarovaya Law “will make it easier for Russian authorities to repress religious communities, stifle peaceful dissent, and detain and imprison people.”[30]]

Some think of these ideologies and/or religions as things with an independent existence. In the hands of Russian puppeteers like Putin, his Communist predecessors and the Romanovs, perhaps they were just tools for gaining and wielding state power.