Baptist pastors banned entry to DNR
It is often the case that in the districts of Donetsk region districts the separatists of the Donetsk People's Republic prohibit entry to ministers, the leaders of local Baptist communities, Religion in Ukraine reports citing the website of Baptists in Ukraine.
On September 20, Mykhailo Nagirnyak, a pastor of the Church "Golgotha" in Yenakiyevo, the deputy head of the Donetsk regional association of churches of the ECB, was not able to get home in Yenakiyevo because of the ban on entry. Pastors were not allowed into the territory controlled by the DPR without any explanation.
The same situation occurred on August 24 with the pastor of a different church in the city of Yenakiyevo - Oleksandr Nagirniak. On September 20, Mykhailo Nagirniak was detained at the checkpoint of the DNR and declared: "On the decision of the Ministry of State Security of the DNR you are prohibited from entering the DNR". Attempts to find out the reason for this decision remained unanswered.
The Baptists of Donetsk region are asking to pray for the local church of the ECB, the city of Yenakiyevo and her pastor Mikhail Nagirniak. Also, Christians living in the conflict zone are in need of constant prayer support, “where, along with violations of freedom of conscience and religion, other fundamental rights and freedoms commonly accepted in the democratic world have been violated,” the Baptist website of Ukraine claims.
