Russian leader’s dramatic escape

The dramatic flight of Yuri Sipko to escape arrest for criticising Russia’s war on Ukraine was prompted ‘by his Biblical convictions that caused him to speak out’.

That is the verdict of Mark Foster of the Slavic Gospel Association, as Sipko, the former President of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (RUECB) between 2002 and 2010, sought refuge in Germany.

Sipko said: ‘A criminal case has been opened against me – they are looking for me to put me in prison because I’ve spoken the truth that Russia waged war on Ukraine. People are dying and everything is being destroyed. It’s criminal, and they should not be doing this. I think everybody should be speaking out against it.’

In a subsequent Facebook message, he denied ‘illegal activity’ and condemned the recent destruction of several Ukrainian cities in an ‘abyss of lies and hatred’. He also poured scorn on the images of Russian ‘military heroes’ now prominently displayed on Moscow’s streets.

Russia’s news agency TASS said that Mr Sipko, who is 71, and was also vice-president of the World Baptist Alliance, had been declared a ‘wanted person’ for spreading ‘fakes about the army’. It reported that police had searched Baptist Union premises and detained another Union leader, Albert Ratkin.

At least 20,000 people have been arrested under new laws, dating from March 2022, which impose heavy fines and prison sentences of up to 15 years for circulating ‘false information’ about the war. 50,000 Russians have already died in the war, according to the independent Mediazona and Meduza outlets.

The current President of the Baptist Union, Dr Peter Mitskevich, called for his congregations to pray for Mr Sipko and to continue ‘preaching Christ at this difficult time’, while also working for ‘peace among nations’.

Mark Foster added: ‘Brother Yuri Sipko is a respected church leader who spoke out against the injustice of the war in Ukraine. Not for the first time this brought him into conflict with the Russian authorities. His office was searched, he was publicly criticised on Russian television, and he had to leave his home country. This resulted from his strong statements on the war in Ukraine, prompted by his Christian convictions. Anyone who criticises the Russian authorities will be targeted.

‘We all, regardless of where we live, need to be constantly reminded that our ultimate loyalty is to our Lord and not to any government or head of state. Brother Yuri illustrates that such loyalty may at times be costly.’