Film Overview

Logline

In a region once celebrated as the post-Soviet “Bible Belt,” a rapidly growing community of Evangelical and Protestant believers becomes a prime target under Russia’s expanding occupation—enduring seized churches, tortured pastors, and abducted children as they struggle to keep their faith alive in secret.

Short Synopsis

A Faith Under Siege dives into the harrowing reality facing Ukraine’s Christian communities under
Russian occupation. As Russia seeks to absorb Ukraine’s population to restore its former empire status,​ Evangelical and Protestant believers—viewed as apostates by the Kremlin-aligned Russian Orthodox​ Church—are singled out for persecution. Churches are destroyed or seized, pastors tortured or killed,​ and families torn apart through abductions, all in an effort to erase dissenting faiths. Yet even amid​ these horrors—extrajudicial killings, secret worship services, and tens of thousands of children taken t​o militarized Russian “summer camps”—a steadfast unity emerges. Christians across denominations stand shoulder to shoulder, aided by international allies who refuse to let their plight go unseen.

Full Synopsis

A Faith Under Siege is a haunting and urgent film that chronicles the spiritual and human cost of Russia’s war against Ukraine—focusing on the evangelical community’s resilience and the heartbreaking crisis of abducted children. Before the end of the cold war, Ukraine was known as the “bible belt” of the Soviet Union, and the home of the largest evangelical Baptist community in Europe. As missiles fall and cities are reduced to rubble, Ukraine’s vibrant evangelical churches have emerged as frontline responders, offering aid, shelter, and hope amid chaos. Yet they, too, are under threat.

Through gripping personal testimonies and on-the-ground reporting, the film exposes how Russia’s invasion has not only targeted territory but also sought to extinguish Ukraine’s religious and cultural identity. Evangelical pastors have been arrested, worship banned in occupied territories, and church buildings seized or destroyed. In tandem, the Kremlin has orchestrated the massabduction of over 19,000 Ukrainian children—many from Christian families—removing them to Russia in a campaign critics say amounts to cultural genocide. Featuring survivors, church leaders, and international experts, A Faith Under Siege reveals a lesser-told story of the war: how faith communities are resisting both spiritual erasure and the systematic dismantling of family and future. This is a story of courage, conscience, and the struggle to hold on to faith when even the children are being taken.