Churches in Eastern Ukraine Seized by Armed Militants

On Monday, June 16th two Protestant churches in the town of Gorlovka in Eastern Ukraine were broken into and vandalized by armed separatists, who also threatened church members. 

After forcing their way into Next Generation Church they destroyed the offices, forbade further worship services to be held in the church, and declared that they would find and destroy all other such churches.

That same day armed men disrupted a service in Word of Life Church. They claimed the church as their property and declared that there would be no more Protestant churches in Gorlovka.

This brings the total number of churches seized by separatists to three, as Church of Christ was seized by militants in May. 

Additionally, on Tuesday, June 17th armed militants seized a church-run rehabilitation center in Donetsk. Twenty seven people undergoing rehabilitation for drug and alcohol addiction, along with two staff members were taken hostage and were held in the center's basement overnight before being released.