OCCUPIED UKRAINE: NATIVE-BORN PASTOR TO RECEIVE DEPORTATION VERDICT THIS WEEK
Persecution watchdog Voice of the Martyrs Korea is calling for prayers this week for a 67-year-old pastor in Occupied Ukraine who is facing deportation from his native city and country because of his ministry activities.
“Pastor Vladimir Pavlovich Rytikov was born in Krasnodon in 1959, in what was then the Voroshilovgrad Region of Soviet Ukraine,” says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley. “This Friday, July 17, at a closed court session that even his wife can’t attend, his deportation sentence for missionary activity will be read out. We are calling all believers to pray for the Lord to move the hearts of court officials to overturn the sentence.”
Representative Foley says that in a court hearing on July 1 about his deportation, Pastor Rytikov blessed the judge, the court secretary, and the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and told them that the Lord loved them.
“I am a native resident of the city of Krasnodon, Luhansk region. I was born here and have lived here for 67 years. I am not a migrant,” Pastor Rytikov said. “I have been performing presbyterial ministry in the local church since 1990. This is my earthly homeland, my home church, my wife, children, grandchildren, and my home. They took away the documents for our house and land plot and are refusing to return them; they have stripped us of all our rights. For a year and a half, my wife and I have not received our pensions. The Lord does not forsake us and helps us.”
According to Representative Foley, Pastor Rytikov has been tried multiple times over the past seven years for missionary activity and for conducting worship services without registration. “There were times when he had two or three court trials and fines each year,” she said.
The son of an Unregistered Baptist pastor, Rytikov also became an Unregistered Baptist pastor. He and his father were sent to prison by Soviet authorities from 1979 to 1982 because of their Unregistered Baptist activities.
“The Unregistered Baptist congregations have always refused to register with the government because they believe registration is a form of government interference in church matters, and it potentially opens the door to further government involvement and control,” says Representative Foley. “They maintain that both biblically and legally they have the right to gather together for worship without state permission.”
Pastor Rytikov and his wife Lyudmila, surrounded by praying supporters (Source: Urgent Prayer Requests from the Council of the International Union of Churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (IUCECB) Telegram channel).
Pastor Rytikov has served as pastor of the Krasnodon church since 1995.
On January 25th, Russian authorities raided the church.
“Before the authorities detained him, he stood in the pulpit and prayed for both the church and the authorities who were raiding it,” says Representative Foley. “The authorities warned Pastor Rytikov and the leaders of the congregation that if they did not register the church, it would be shut down. But Pastor Rytikov simply blessed the authorities who detained him, and then he shared with them about Christ.”
On March 21, Pastor Rytikov posted on the Urgent Prayer Requests from the Council of the International Union of Churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (IUCECB) Telegram channel that officers from the Migration Service came to his home. “They called me out and said: ‘Your residence permit has been revoked’,” Pastor Rytikov wrote. “I have two weeks to leave for another country—anywhere, they said, ‘Go to Poland, if you must.’ They said that only my residence permit had been revoked, but not Lyudmila’s (my wife’s). On what grounds? They did not answer. I said, ‘I was born here and have lived here for 67 years, and now they’re deporting me. What if I don’t go anywhere?’ They said, ‘We’ll have you executed,’ and they’ll take measures to ensure my departure. Pray that the Lord will preserve and protect us. Lyudmila and I prayed and said, ‘Lord, Thy will be done!’”
Pastor Rytikov (front middle in the blue shirt without jacket, holding the bouquet with red flowers) and his wife Lyudmila (to his right, in the white shirt), surrounded by praying supporters (Source: Urgent Prayer Requests from the Council of the International Union of Churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (IUCECB) Telegram Channel)
Representative Foley says that at the preliminary court hearing for Pastor Rytikov on April 28, around forty supporters gathered in front of the courthouse but no one except the pastor was permitted inside.
“A nine-page indictment against Pastor Rytikov was presented, all centered around alleged missionary activity,” says Representative Foley. “Authorities requested that Pastor Rytikov be deported.”
She says that Pastor Rytikov’s court hearing was originally scheduled for June 19 but was postponed until July 1 due to the absence of information related to the charges under Article 115-FZ (threat against the Russian Federation). The verdict is expected to be announced this Friday, July 17.
Those who are interested in Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s ministry in partnership with Christians in Russia and Ukraine can learn more at https://vomkorea.com/en/project/russia-ministry/.