Southern Ukraine
According to a 2016 survey of religion in Ukraine conducted by the Razumkov Center, around 65.7% of the population of southern Ukraine declared to be believers in any religion, while 7.4% declared to be non-believers, and 3.2% declared to be atheists and agnostics. the study also found that 77.6% of the total Southern Ukraine population declared to be Christians (71.0% Eastern Orthodox, 5.1% simply Christians, 0.5% Latin Rite Catholics, 0.53% members of various Protestant churches, 0.5% members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), and 0.5% were Jewish. Not religious and other believers not identifying with any of the listed major religious institutions constituted about 24.7% of the population.
Baptists in Ukraine
Under the 1996 Constitution of Ukraine, Ukrainians were given the right to free practice of religion. However, as a minority and non-traditional religion the Baptists have been subject to persecution and discrimination, including being arrested. The Government of Ukraine facilitates the building of houses of worship, and Baptists have difficulties with the local authorities in Kiev and other large cities while attempting to obtain land and building permits. Baptist leaders have criticized the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) for continuing to publicly referring to Baptists with the pejorative Ukrainian word ""sectanty"" ("sectarians"), and about the activities of the group "Dialogue," which Baptists and human rights groups characterized as a front for the UOC-MP that promoted hostility toward non-Orthodox Christians.