After the collapse of the old Soviet Union, missionaries made their way into the old Soviet bloc countries seeking to revive the Christian church.

Some of those missionaries hailed from Alabama, as U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) points out.

Friday, during an appearance on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," Aderholt highlighted the Ukraine-Alabama connection as Russia continues its invasion of the former Soviet republic.

"[I]'ve had the privilege over the years to travel to Ukraine," he said. "As a matter of fact, I got to speak at a prayer breakfast they had over there a few years ago. You know, it's great to see a country that was a former Soviet republic where the Bible was not allowed in under Soviet days -- I was there speaking at a prayer breakfast, very openly, right in Kyiv.

"There's a lot of kinship between Alabama and Ukraine because Alabama has sent a lot of mission trips over there from churches. And there's been a lot of adoptions from Ukraine into Alabama. So, we've got quite a few Ukrainians that are living in Alabama now."

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