Evangelical churches in the conflict zone in Eastern Ukraine in the years 2014–2019

Polish scientific publications regarding the conflict in Eastern Ukraine rarely describe the situation of religious minorities in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. They are more focused on its political, economic and military aspects. The author decided to verify the hypothesis that the conflict in eastern Ukraine has only political background, not religious, and, therefore, he has formulated the two research questions. First: what forms did the persecutions of Evangelical Christians take, and how did it affect the activities of these Christians? Second: what were the reasons for the persecutions of the Evangelical Christians? The text consists of three parts and conclusions. The first part provides general information about Evangelical Christians in eastern Ukraine. The cases of persecution of this group between 2014 and 2019 are further described. The third part examines the factors determining the position of evangelical Christians in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic. The last part of the article contains conclusions. The deliberations were prepared on the basis of carefully verified materials in English, Ukrainian and Polish. Many publications were downloaded from the websites of various international organizations, think tanks and research institutions. The author used a qualitative approach and referred to the sociological analysis of the conflict, taking into account political and religious studies.