IN OCCUPIED REGION OF LUHANSK PROVINCE COMMANDOS "MINED" JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES KINGDOM HALL AND PLANTED PROVOCATIONAL PAMPHLETS
In Alchevsk (Luhansk province), in area temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian government, commandos of the Luhansk People's Republic disrupted a Jehovah's Witnesses' worship service and "mined" the Kingdom Hall.
As anonymous sources report, on 4 August in occupied Alchevsk, it was planned to conduct a "regional congress of Jehovah's Witnesses." However, the service could not be conducted. Around 10:00, unidentified persons in camouflage and masks, having previously secured the building, burst into the Kingdom Hall (the house of worship where Jehovah's Witnesses conduct their worship services). The commandos reported that the Kingdom Hall had been mined, and that everyone must leave the building. Conducting a search of the premises, the separatists did not find any explosives, although they "discovered" around 200 pamphlets of "antirepublican" contents.
The minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Luhansk People's Republic, Kornet, and also the acting prosecutor, Alchevska Rozovenko, and representatives of the Ministry of State Security arrived at the scene of activity.
According to members of the local congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, the pamphlets had been planted in the house of worship by Luhansk security personnel with the intention of discrediting the believers.
The security personnel conducted conversations with the believers until evening, gathering personal data, and then they released them upon receipt. At the present time, the Kingdom Hall is sealed and services are not being conducted in it.
It is worthy of note that similar events occurred on the same day in the capital city of Luhansk. (tr. by PDS, posted 12 August 2017)
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