History of Protestantism in Ukraine

: This article examines the history and current state of Protestantism in Ukraine. The research explores the causes and consequences of the growth and decline of Protestantism in the country, as well as the development and situation of Protestant communities in modern Ukraine. The study utilizes general scien - tific methods of analysis and synthesis, including descriptive and comparative methods. The article finds that Protestantism in Ukraine has experienced periods of growth and decline in popularity among believers. It initially spread to Ukraine after Martin Luther’s Reformation in the 16 th century and received considerable attention from the elite in the 17 th century. However, the popularity of Protestant - ism in Ukraine declined in the 18 th century. The second half of the 19 th century saw a new period of growth in the popularity of Protestantism in Ukraine, which mainly spread among the poor strata of the population. The interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s presented new opportunities for the development of Prot - estantism in Ukraine, but repression by Soviet authorities forcibly stopped this process. The article also notes that the beginning of Ukraine’s independence in the 1990s and 2000s was a time of increasing popularity of Protestantism among various social groups of Ukrainians. Overall, the study provides theoretical sig - nificance in the systematization of the development of Protestantism in Ukraine during different historical periods. Additionally, the practical value of the article lies in its potential to contribute to further research on the role of religious search - es in helping Ukrainian society during crisis historical times.


Introduction
Protestantism is one of the most widespread Christian denominations in the world, about 30-40% of Christians in the world are Protestants (Johnson et al. 2015, 28-29).Most believers in Ukraine are Orthodox Christians, but Protestantism is also quite popular among Ukrainians.The number of Protestants in Ukraine increased after 1991, and currently, about 2-3% of the Ukrainian population are Protestants: Around one million Ukrainians profess Protestantism (Lubashchenko 2020, 100-102).The number of Protestants in Ukraine increased rapidly during the period of independence, but Protestantism here has a long history, which goes back to the beginning of the Reformation.Protestantism in Ukraine has evolved from the faith of the elite to the persecuted religion of the masses and an alternative religious doctrine.Protestantism here continues to develop and respond to modern challenges.
Various researchers have studied the history of Protestantism in Ukraine.Among the thorough works devoted to this problem is the collective work Protestantism in Ukraine edited by Peter Yarotskiy (2002, 233), and published in 2002.It is a detailed account of the history of Protestantism in Ukraine from the 16 th century to modern times.The authors of this work outline the history of various forms of Protestantism, from Lutheranism to later forms of Protestantism such as the Evangelical Baptist movement (Yarotskiy 2002, 233).One of the most active researchers of Ukrainian Protestantism is Victoria Lyubashchenko, who is the author of the course of lectures "History of Protestantism in Ukraine".In her lectures, the researcher presents the history of Protestantism in Ukraine in the context of European history and the history of religion in neighbouring countries (Lubashchenko 1996, 303).Such researchers as Olena Panych (2016, 55-60), Viktoriya Zaporozhets (2016, 472-473), Maksym Balaklytskyi (2017), and Roman Sitarchuk (2021, 3-6) studied the religious situation in modern Ukraine, the growing popularity of Protestantism in Ukraine in the 1990s and 2000s, and the complex religious situation in the Soviet period (Karpov 2017, 141-143).Ho-woog Kim et al. -History of Protestantism in Ukraine Certain aspects of the history of Protestantism in Ukraine are insufficiently studied and require further in-depth research.This is, in particular, the history of the development of Protestantism in Ukraine in the 19 th century, as well as its connection with the so-called "spiritual Christianity" at that time.The reasons for the growing popularity of Protestantism at the end of the 20 th century require a more detailed study.Also, the current situation in the Protestant communities in Ukraine, their development, and the possibilities of the potential rise of Protestantism have not been sufficiently studied.Further in-depth study of various aspects of the history of Protestantism in Ukraine will help to better understand how religious searches enabled Ukrainian society to find a way out of difficult circumstances in historical crisis periods.
The growing popularity of Protestantism in post-Soviet countries, in particular in Ukraine, increases interest in the mentioned problems in the scientific community and determines the relevance of the study.The scientific novelty of the research lies in the study of insufficiently studied aspects of the problem, such as the causes and consequences of the growth and decline of the popularity of Protestantism in Ukraine, and the development and situation of Protestant communities in modern Ukraine.The purpose of the article is to study the history of Protestantism in Ukraine from the beginning of the Reformation to the present.In accordance with the goal, the following tasks are set: 1) to investigate the peculiarities of the development of Protestantism in Ukraine in different periods; 2) to find out the reasons for the growing popularity of Protestantism at a certain time in different strata of Ukrainian society.

Materials and Methods
In the research process, general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, the ascent from the abstract to the concrete and vice versa are used, in particular, the descriptive method and the comparative method; as well as special methods of historical research, namely the historical-critical method, the historical-comparative method.
The descriptive method, which is one of the most common methods of scientific research, is useful because it allows us to create a general picture of past events.With the help of the descriptive method, it is possible to collect the source base of the research, conduct its primary analysis and provide an overview of the religious material.The descriptive method makes it possible to provide a general description of the studies devoted to it, highlighting the positions taken by scientists on the researched issue.The descriptive method helps to reflect the process of development of Protestantism in Ukraine in different historical periods and to reveal the peculiarities and conditions of the rise of Protestantism at one time or another.The use of this method is to create a holistic vision and understanding of complex processes in the religious communities of Ukraine.
The comparative method, as an empirical method and one of the general scientific methods, makes it possible to compare different forms of Protestantism in Ukraine and to determine which forms of Protestantism were more common in Ukraine in certain historical periods, as well as what were the reasons for the popularity of certain forms of Protestantism among Ukrainians.In addition, thanks to the comparative method, it is possible to find commonalities and differences in various forms of Protestantism common in modern Ukraine, their activity, and ways of spreading their own creed.The comparative method makes it possible to find out which forms of Protestantism achieved greater success in Ukraine, and which phenomena and features contributed to this.
The historical-comparative method, as one of the special methods of historical research, by comparing the common and special phenomena of a specific historical era, makes it possible to clarify the paths of different Protestant directions in Ukraine.Also, this method helps to compare the conditions of the general development of Protestantism in Europe and the development of Protestantism in Ukraine.Thanks to the historical-comparative method, we can trace the differences in the development of Protestantism in Ukraine in separate historical eras, compare the features of each of the eras with each other, and to draw conclusions about which times were more favourable for Protestantism in Ukraine, and what determined this.
The historical-critical method is one of the oldest special methods of historical research, which allows us to study sources not literally, but through the prism of criticism, highlighting the factual basis.The method of critical analysis consists of the fact that with its help it is possible to highlight reliable information and then based on the obtained data reconstruct reality.Therefore, it is necessary to approach the sources critically and, being aware of their origin, evaluate the vision of the problem in the presentation of one or another source.The historical-critical method helps to analyse the sources and find out the reasons for the persecution of certain Protestant churches by the state authorities in different historical periods.

Results
Despite the fact that the majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox, Protestantism has a long history in Ukraine.From the 16th century, Protestantism and its religious ideas spread among different social strata of Ukrainians.Currently, 2-3% of the population of Ukraine identify themselves as Protestants (Lubashchenko 2020, 101-103).The number of Protestants and Protestant communities in Ukraine increased dramatically in the 1990s and 2000s, but this growth has slowed down in recent years (Zaporozhets 2016, 473-475).
Although Ukraine is a predominantly Orthodox country, Protestantism has a long history here.The first Protestant communities in Ukrainian lands appeared as early as the 16 th century.At that time, the Protestants in Ukraine were German colonists who lived in the cities of the Polish Kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.Martin Luther's religious ideas became popular among Germans throughout Europe, and many Germans living in different countries became Lutherans.Lutheranism in the 16 th century including Ukraine, was primarily understood as the "German faith" (Yarotskiy, 2002, 20-26;Chung 2010, 254-255).But in the beginning of the 17 th century, the situation gradually changed, and Protestantism gained popularity among ethnic Ukrainians.At that time, Protestantism became a popular religious idea, primarily among the aristocrats of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, while the majority of representatives of other social strata of the Ukrainian people remained Orthodox.The policy of religious tolerance in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of that time and the contacts of its elite with the Protestants of Western Europe contributed to the spread of Protestantism among the aristocrats in Ukraine.Calvinism was then more widespread here than Lutheranism, as its ideas were more universal and not associated exclusively with Germans and Germany (Chung 2010, 254-255).Some influential aristocratic families, like the Radziwill family, were Calvinists.The famous writer and philosopher Stanislav Orikhovskyi was a Lutheran but later returned to Catholicism (Lubashchenko 1996, 50-70).
In addition to Lutheranism and Calvinism, more radical forms of Protestantism, such as Unitarianism and Socinianism, were also widespread among the Ukrainian aristocracy during this period.Unitarians, or as they were also called antitrinitarians, denied the doctrine of the Trinity.Socinianism, in turn, was a separate direction from Unitarianism.The Socinians denied Original Sin, they recognized the New Testament as more important for Christians than the Old Testament.One of the most famous Socinian-Ukrainians of that time was the politician Yurii Nemyrych, who was a high-ranking official of the Commonwealth of Independent States.Nemyrych founded a Protestant school in the Volyn village of Kysylyn, which was part of the family possessions of the Nemyrychs.In the last years of his life, Nemyrych joined the Ukrainian Cossacks and converted to Orthodoxy (Yarotskiy 2002, 52-95).
In the 2 nd half of the 17 th century and the 18 th century, the popularity of Protestantism in Ukraine went into rapid decline.This period was the time of the Cossack Wars, the formation of the Ukrainian Cossack State, and the division of Ukrainian lands between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.The result of these processes was the end of the policy of religious tolerance in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.In Western Ukraine, the Protestant aristocracy returned to Catholicism, and in Eastern Ukraine, non-Orthodox churches were under pressure from the state authorities (Lubashchenko 1995, 99-105).
The 19 th century was a time of a new rise in the popularity of Protestantism in Ukraine.Mennonites became the first new Protestants in Ukrainian lands.They were German or Dutch colonists whose ancestors arrived in Southern and Eastern Ukraine in the 2 nd century.In the 18 th century and the early 19 th century, the devout way of life of the Mennonites -honesty and hard work -contributed to the spread of Mennonite ideas among their Ukrainian neighbours.In contrast to the 16 th -17 th centuries, in the 19 th century mainly the peasants of Southern and Eastern Ukraine became Protestants.Also at this time, new forms of Protestantism, such as Baptist and Pentecostalism, became popular among the Ukrainian people.Such religious groups were in opposition to the official state Orthodox Church.Reasons for the spread of Protestantism in Ukraine in the 19 th century were the corruption of the official Orthodox Church, as well as the spread of various currents of so-called spiritual Christianity in the south and east of Ukraine.These religious groups were recognized as sects at the state level and were under pressure from the authorities (Lubashchenko 1996, 130-145;Karpov 2017, 142-144).
A common name for Protestants in the Russian Empire in the 19 th century and at the beginning of the 20 th century there was the word "shtunda".As a result of this, the Protestant movement in Ukraine during this period is defined as "Ukrainian Stundism".The word Shtunda comes from the German language, where the expression "Bibel Studen" means Bible classes or Bible study lessons (Panych 2016, 58-60).This name came from the tradition of regular Bible study lessons, which were borrowed by Ukrainian Protestants from the Mennonites.Leaders of Ukrainian student groups in the 19 th century there were peasants Mykhailo Ratushnyi, who came from the village of Osnova in the modern Odesa region, and Ivan Ryaboshapka, who came from the village of Lyubomyrka in the modern Kirovohrad region (Yarotskiy 2002, 305-307;Cherenkov 2017).In 1860, Ratushny was converted to Protestantism by his neighbour Fedir Onyshchenko, who had previously worked for the German colonists, near Mykolaiv.Due to the fact that Town Hall was the village headman and had the gift of a preacher, the Protestant community of the village of Osnova became quite numerous, and in the 1860s, it included 35 families.Ratushny's preaching later spread beyond the borders of his native village.In 1873, Ratushny, together with Ryaboshapka, compiled the "Rules of the Creed of the Transformed Russian Brotherhood", which was also called the "Creed of Mykhailo Ratushny" (Yarotskiy 2002, 305-306;Cherenkov 2017).
Ukrainian Stundists were honest and hardworking; they abstained from drinking alcohol, refused to participate in wars, and also avoided domestic abuse.Such moral principles of Stundists were one of the reasons for the growing popularity of Protestantism in Ukraine in the 19th century.The way of life of the Protestants became attractive to a large part of Ukrainians.Another reason for the rise of Protestantism was the publication in the 1860s and 1870s of the Synodal Translation of the Bible -the official translation of the Holy Scriptures into Russian.This translation made the biblical text more accessible to people and made it possible to read and interpret it independently.
Ukrainian Protestants were repeatedly persecuted as sectarians; leaders of Protestant communities were often arrested.In 1879, Shtunda was officially recognized as a sect, and in 1894, the government of the Russian Empire banned the gathering of Shtundists.Only after the revolution of 1905 were discriminatory laws against Protestants abolished (Coleman 2005, 150-155;Wanner 2006, 8-12).
The interwar period was a short time when Protestant churches in Ukraine were able to operate openly.This state of affairs was determined by the revolutionary era and the declarative freedom of religion proclaimed by the revolutionary governments.In 1919, the Church was officially separated from the state by the Bolshevik decree "On the separation of the church from the state and the school from the church".Since then, the activities of Protestant preachers have intensified, and new Protestant communities have emerged (Sitarchuk 2021, 20-26).
Among the active Protestant missionaries of the Interwar period were such figures as Teodor Yarchuk, a Lutheran missionary from Western Ukraine, and Ivan Voronaev, a Pentecostal preacher from Southern Ukraine.Yarchuk was the founder of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church.He studied in Germany, where he converted to Protestantism.When Yarchuk returned to Western Ukraine, in 1926 he founded a new religious community in Stanislavov (modern Ivano-Frankivsk).The peculiarity of Yarchuk's activity was that he took into account the religious traditions of the Ukrainian people.As a result, the Ukrainian Lutheran Church founded by him was more conservative than other Protestant Churches in Ukraine (Gorpynchuk 2002, 1-7).
Ivan Voronaev lived in the USA, where in 1913 he became a Baptist pastor in San Francisco.In 1919, he converted from Baptist to Pentecostalism.In 1921, Voronaev arrived in Odessa, where in 1927 he founded a Pentecostal community -the All-Union of Evangelical Christians.Thanks to the active activity of Voronaev, Pentecostalism, which until then was not very popular in Ukraine, began to spread rapidly among Ukrainians (Franchuk 2011).
The institutionalization of the Baptist community also took place precisely in the interwar period.The organization of Ukrainian Baptists -the National Baptist Union was created in 1921 in Yelysavetgrad (modern Kropyvnytskyi), Dmytro Pravoverov became the head of the Union.The National Baptist Union published the magazine Baptist of Ukraine (Sitarchuk 2021, 20-26).
In the 1930s-1940s, as a result of the deployment of repressive policies in the Soviet Union, aggressive atheistic propaganda, and the fight against religion, the intensive development of Protestantism in Ukraine was forcibly stopped.Both prominent missionaries Yarchuk and Voronaev became victims of repression.Yarchuk was executed by Soviet punitive authorities in 1940 when Western Ukraine became part of the USSR, and Voronaev was shot in 1937.
In the 2 nd half 20 th century, religious life in Soviet Ukraine was limited and controlled by the authorities.The Soviet authorities allowed the activities of certain Protestant religious organizations that were under the control of the government.In particular, the Union of Evangelical Baptist Christians was openly active in the Soviet Union.This organization legally published the magazine Herald of Truth (Panych 2016, 57-59;Balaklytskiy 2017).At the same time, the authorities spread negative judgments about Protestants and promoted the treatment of Protestant churches as sects.
New opportunities for the development of Protestantism appeared in independent Ukraine, the 1990s became a time of religious revival.Protestant preachers from different countries came to Ukraine to spread their religious ideas and found new communities.Koreans who were forced to immigrate to Ukraine during the Soviet government have established Protestant churches, maintaining their faith.According to 2012 statistics, there were about 20.000 Korayskis (Ukrainians of Korean descent) who lived in Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Zaporozhe, Kirovograd, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnepropetrovsk, Kryvyi Rih, Chernivtsi, Dzhankoi, Simferopol, and Yevpatoriya.Before the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022, it is known that about 30.000Korayskis were active in Ukraine (Hwang 1991).Koreans have sustained their rich religiousness wherever they live.In particular, it is because religion has given them the role of a community that provides them with courage and hope to start a new life in foreign countries such as Central Asia and Ukraine.For this reason, there have been several Korean Protestant churches in Ukraine including Kyiv Korean Church, founded in 1993 by Korayskis, South Koreans, and local Ukrainians.
In addition to the more traditional branches of Protestantism, such as Lutheranism, Baptistism, or Pentecostalism, new movements of charismatic Christians appeared.In the 2010s, the rapid growth of Protestant religious communities in Ukraine slowed down.Currently, there are various forms of Protestantism in Ukraine: Baptistism, Pentecostalism, Adventism, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, the Charismatic Church of the Living God, etc. (2020 Report on International Religious Freedom: Ukraine 2021; Casper 2021).
Currently, the growth of the popularity of Protestantism among Ukrainians has declined, and Protestantism in Ukraine has certain problems to spread.These problems, first of all, are related to the consequences of long-term anti-Protestant propaganda, which was carried out for many years by the authorities of both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.Secondly, in the first years of Ukraine's independence, Ukrainians were characterized by intensive religious searches, but now this process has slowed down.Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Protestant preachers to find new believers.Thirdly, foreign Protestant missionaries do not always understand the cultural and religious traditions of Ukrainian society.Consequently, Protestantism in Ukraine needs new ways to develop and spread in modern conditions.

Discussion
Many researchers have studied the history of Protestantism in Ukraine.In recent years, the number of studies devoted to this issue has increased.The rejection of Soviet atheistic propaganda, the religious revival in Ukraine in the 1990s and 2000s, as well as the increase in the number of Protestant communities, contributed to the increase in interest in this problem among scientists.Scientists who study the history of Protestantism in Ukraine are divided into two groups: secular historians and authors who study the problem from the point of view of belonging to a religion.Historians of the first group consider the history of the development of Protestantism without reference to a certain religious community.Historians of the second group consider the history of Protestantism apologetically, according to their own affiliation to one or another religious group.They can focus on a more specific issue or person that is important to their community (Khondzinskkii 2018, 129-131;Kvik 2021, 50-51;Smirnova 2012, 146-148;Shileykis 2019, 33-34).
One of the most active researchers in the history of Protestantism in Ukraine is Viktoria Lyubashchenko.In 1995, she wrote a large-scale course of lectures "History of Protestantism in Ukraine".In this work, the researcher traced the complex path of Protestantism in Ukraine from the 16 th century to the present day, and also investigated the reasons for the rise and fall of the popularity of Protestantism in Ukraine in different historical periods.The author also considered the history of each form of Protestantism, drawing conclusions about its popularity or unpopularity at certain times.According to Lubashchenko (1996, 100-104), those Protestant churches that took into account the religious traditions of Ukrainians and fit well into the local soil became popular and influential.According to the researcher, although Protestants have always been a religious minority in Ukraine, Protestantism has left a significant mark on the social and religious life of Ukrainians."In general, in modern historiography, the opinion about the historical regularity and originality of the reformation processes in Ukraine is becoming more and more established.The reformation was not limited to Central and Western Europe but became an unconditional fact of the spiritual life of Eastern Europe," says the author (Lubashchenko 1996, 100-104).
Lubashchenko is also the author of various scientific articles devoted to Ukrainian Protestantism.The article "Protestantism in Ukraine: achievements and losses" is a short report on the situation of Protestantism in Ukrainian society.
The author provides statistical data on various Protestant churches operating in Ukraine and reflects on the problems of the development of Protestantism in modern Ukraine (2010,(266)(267)(268)(269)(270)(271)(272)(273)(274)(275)(276)(277)(278)(279)(280).In the article "Evangelical Protestantism in Ukraine: the search for a new paradigm of the church," Lubashchenko examines the current situation in the Evangelical Church in Ukraine, the rise in popularity of this creed in the 1990s and 2000s, as well as a certain decline in its popularity in the 2010s.In addition, the researcher examines the participation of Protestants in the social and political life of modern Ukraine (2020,(103)(104)(105)(106).
Another major work devoted to the history of Protestantism in Ukraine is the collective work Protestantism in Ukraine, written under the general editorship of Peter Yarotskiy (2002, 337-339) and published in 2002.This work paints a general picture of the development of Protestantism in Ukraine from the 16th century to the present day.The articles of this collective work are devoted to each form of Protestantism and the history of its development in Ukraine in a certain period.According to the authors, the teachings of the Reformation and Protestantism influenced Ukrainian Orthodoxy and the ideas of some prominent Ukrainian philosophers."The seeds sown by Protestants yielded results and contributed to the internal reformation of Orthodoxy in Ukraine.The internal Reformation influenced the work of such religious and philosophical writers of the 18 th century as Feofan Prokopovych and Hryhoryy Skovoroda", the authors emphasize (Yarotskiy 2002, 337-339).
Such Ukrainian researchers as Olena Panych (2016, 64), Viktoriya Zaporozhets (2016, 475-476), Petro Karpov, (2017, 142-144), Maksym Balaklytskyi (2017), and Roman Sitarchuk (2021, 5-8) are authors of scientific articles devoted to various aspects of the history and development of Protestantism in Ukraine.In particular, Olena Panych (2016, 64) wrote an article devoted to the process of institutionalization of evangelical Protestant churches in Ukraine.In the article, the author describes the history of the birth of evangelical Protestantism in Ukraine in the 19t h century and the subsequent institutionalization of evangelical churches in the 20 th and 21 st centuries.Speaking about the current state of Protestant churches in Ukraine, the researcher claims that modern Ukrainian Protestantism has two main directions: conservative and liberal.Conservative Protestants maintain traditions in dress and rules, while liberal Protestants make changes in the nature of worship.According to Panych (2016, 64), recently liberal trends of Protestantism are becoming more and more popular among Ukrainian youth.
In her article, Victoria Zaporozhets (2016, 475-476) makes a brief overview of each significant Protestant church in Ukraine and conveys the history of the development of these Protestant churches.The article is divided into several parts, each of which is dedicated to a certain direction of Protestantism and its position in Ukraine.The author concludes: "In fact, Protestantism has only now received opportunities for development /…/ Protestantism has accumulated considerable experience in adapting to various economic systems, open or closed, or ideological opposition.Today, it helps Protestantism to move into new social and spiritual conditions."Petr Karpov's article is devoted to the stages of the development of Protestantism in Ukraine.The author pays particular attention to the situation of Protestantism in Bukovina, in particular in Chernivtsi.The researcher claims that there were three waves of the spread of Protestantism in Ukraine: 1) the 16 th century -the beginning of the 17 th century, when Protestantism spread among the elite of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 2) the end of the 18 th century -19 th century, when Protestantism became more and more popular among broad sections of the population 3) 1990-the 2000s when new opportunities for the spread of Protestantism appeared in independent Ukraine (Karpov 2017, 142-143).The author concludes: "Protestants had a significant impact on the development of culture in Ukraine, but the anti-reformation campaign and brutal censorship did not contribute to the elevation and mass dissemination of Protestant cultural achievements.At the same time, Protestant ideas in one way or another contributed to the elevation and development of national Ukrainian culture."(145) Maksym Balaklytskiy (2017) in his articles promotes the idea that the Reformation won in many respects: "Thanks to book publishing, Protestant cells began to fight for the saturation of the information sphere with printed copies of the Bible; the perception (listening and further reading) of the biblical text was individualized, becoming, in the end, a personal practice," says the scientist.The author also reviews the development of Protestant magazines and newspapers, talking about the influence of the printed word on the spread of Protestantism among the Ukrainian people.The researcher claims that Protestants attached great importance to the spread of literacy in their own environment.The author also emphasizes the importance of modern technologies for spreading religious teachings among people (Balaklytskiy 2017;Balaklytskiy and Shevchuk 2021, 183-190).
Roman Sitarchuk (2021, 5-8) devoted an article to the situation of Ukrainian Protestantism in the interwar period.His article reveals changes in Soviet policy toward Protestant churches in Soviet Ukraine, from support in the 1920s to persecution in the 1930s.Articles by Dmytro Vovk (2020), Iryna Vasylieva, and Vita Tytarenko (2020, 75-76) are devoted to contemporary problems of Protestantism in Ukraine.Vovk (2020) analyses the situation in Ukrainian religious communities, which were the result of the challenges of recent years.Iryna Vasylieva, and Vita Tytarenko (2020, 77-78) reveal the dynamics of the development of Protestant Churches in Ukraine and explain the reasons for this.
Other Ukrainian historians and researchers of Protestantism stand in the position of supporting their religious beliefs and consider the problem through the apologia of Protestantism.Some of these authors are Protestant theologians.One of the Protestant theologians, who is also the author of studies on the history of Protestantism in Ukraine, is Vyacheslav Gorpynchuk (2002, 1-5), who has the status of a bishop of the Lutheran Church of Ukraine.He is the author of an article on the history and development of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church.In it, special attention is paid to the personality of the missionary Teodor Yarchuk.According to Gorpynchuk (2002, 1-5), Yarchuk significantly spread Lutheranism among Ukrainians because he did not deny the conservative religious traditions of the Ukrainian people.The author also emphasizes that the Lutheran Church was more democratic and less corrupt than other Christian Churches in Western Ukraine during the interwar period.
Pentecostal author Volodymyr Franchuk (2011) wrote an article dedicated to the preacher and missionary Ivan Voronayev.In it, the author describes the tragic life of Voronayev and introduces readers to his contribution to the spread of Pentecostalism in Ukraine in the 20th century.The author emphasizes that Voronayev gave his life for the faith of Christ (Franchuk 2011).
Most Western researchers do not pay deep attention to the history and development of Protestantism in Ukraine.They mostly consider the problem in the context of the development of Protestantism in neighbouring countries.In particular, Hans Christian Diedrich and Gerd Stricker wrote an article about the history and development of Protestantism in Russia, Belarus, and Lithuania.They provide an overview of the history of Protestantism in this geographic region in the Polish--Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Empire (Didrich and Schtrikker 2013).Other Western historians who consider the history of Protestantism in Ukraine in a global and regional context are Heather Coleman (2005, 121-122) and Edward Smither (2019, 120-124).Smither is the author of a study on Christian missions.In his book, he touches on the topic of the spread of Protestantism in different countries of the world.Coleman (2005, 121-122) examines the development of Protestantism in the Russian Empire and the early Soviet Union.In her work, she also reveals the position of Protestantism in Ukraine in the imperial context.F. Prodanyuk and H. Mierienkov (2021, 27-30) are among the Western researchers who deal more specifically with the history of Protestantism in Ukraine.The authors examine the history of the Baptist Church in Ukraine and give a certain vision of the situation in the Baptist Church in Ukraine from the 19th to the 21st centuries.Other Western scholars who touched on this problem are George Williams (1978, 41-45) and Katharina Wanner (2006, 1-21).Williams (1978, 41-45) is a specialist in the history of Protestantism in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Wanner (2006, 1-21) studies the history of Baptist and Evangelical churches.
So, there are many academic works devoted to the history of Protestantism in Ukraine.Most scholars consider Protestants an integral part of Ukrainian society.In certain historical periods, Protestants played an important role in the religious life of Ukrainians.The ideas of Protestantism influenced culture, education, and philosophy.At times, Protestantism created competition with other Christian churches, and Ukrainian Protestants were persecuted by the Russian and Soviet governments.
Speaking about the study of the history of Protestantism in Ukraine, it is worth saying that the vast majority of scholars talk about the influence of the Protestant worldview on the religious life of non-Protestant religious communities, as well as on the development of religious and philosophical thought in Ukraine.It is quite possible to agree with such a statement, but it is worth noting that despite the outbreaks of the popularity of Protestantism in certain historical periods, Ukraine remained a predominantly Orthodox country.This phenomenon is connected both with the deep ancient traditions of the Ukrainian people, a certain conservatism in the attitudes of a large part of the Ukrainian population, and the fact that Protestants almost always kept their "biblical faith" which has emphasized more preaching than religious rituals.In addition, it is important to underscore that despite the changes in the public attitudes of the Ukrainian people in different historical periods, the vast majority of Ukrainians are not ready to accept too liberal religious currents and teachings, and this phenomenon is not always understood by Protestant missionaries.Thus, the problem of the history of Protestantism in Ukraine is complex and has various aspects that require deeper, versatile, and neutral research.

Conclusions
In the course of the research, results are achieved, according to which it is possible to determine the following periods in history, which are marked by a sharp increase in the popularity of Protestantism in Ukraine, with the definition of specific characteristics of each of these periods.
1) The 16 th -17 th centuries were the first period of the rise of Protestantism in Ukraine.The democratic and progressive ideas of the Reformation were attractive to some members of the aristocracy.Religious tolerance in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during this period and contacts with Germany were favourable circumstances for the spread of Protestantism.The second half of the 17th and 18th centuries was the time of the end of religious tolerance and the decline of Protestantism in Ukrainian lands.
2) Second half of the 19 th century -the second period of the rise of Protestantism in Ukraine.The reasons for this phenomenon were contact with German Protestants and the activities of various Protestant missionaries.At the time, the Protestant movement was opposed to the official Orthodox or Catholic Church, which was supported by the Russian and Austrian empires.
3) The third period of the rise of Protestantism in Ukraine was the interwar period.This happened because of new opportunities that appeared after the revolution.But Soviet repression against believers in the 1930s and 1940s stopped the process of spreading Protestantism.
4) The first years of Ukraine's independence were the fourth period of the rise of Protestantism.At that time, Protestant preachers could deliver their message without hindrance.The number of Protestant communities grew rapidly in the 1990s and 2000s.As we have seen, for example, direct and indirect exchanges between Korean Protestant Christians and Korayskis in Ukraine were also very noticeable during this period, and several Protestant churches were established in Kyiv and other small and large Ukurarina districts.Korean Protestants struggled with Japanese imperialists during the Japanese colonial period .After the Korean War (1950War ( -1953) ) they were praised by people around the world for their role as comforters and helpers for many refugees, orphans, and war widows.During the Russo-Ukraine War, South Korean Protestant churches and Korean-American Protestant churches in the United States have come up with relief measures to help victims of the war and are providing practical help.In the Gwangju rea of South Korea, a Goryeo-in [Korayski] village was used to provide a place for refugees from Ukraine to rest and live.Therefore, once this war is over, the revival of Korayski Protestant churches throughout Ukraine can be expected.
Therefore, the history of Protestantism in Ukraine needs further deep and neutral research that will reveal various aspects of this multifaceted problem.This article can be useful for the next research, which, in particular, will help to reveal how religious searches helped Ukrainian society in a crisis in historical times, which determines its practical significance.