As Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists carry on an almost forgotten fight in half-deserted towns like this one, despite a year-old cease-fire, several well-organized evangelical groups are staging a campaign of their own. Based on their accounts and evidence seen here, they are finding fertile ground for their efforts.

Maryinka lies in what Ukrainians call the “gray zone,” between or close to the positions of government troops and Russian-backed rebels. While virtually everyone in eastern Ukraine has suffered in the nearly two years of war, residents of these areas have endured even more hardship.

About 6,000 civilians, including 350 children, remain in Maryinka, about half of the prewar population. Two schools remain open, though kindergartens, not much in demand in a place where nobody works, have closed.

In places, it is a town of bombed-out houses and overgrown yards, where people shuffle quickly across streets exposed to the high-powered sniper rifles of the separatists on the outskirts.