Despite extensive searches and enquiries by Baptist churches, there is no news whatsoever of missing pastor Leonid Ponomaryov and his wife Tatyana.
They were seized by armed, masked men wearing military uniform from their home in Russian-occupied Mariupol in September. Neighbours ‘distinctly heard groans and cries’ as the masked men took Leonid and Tatyana away ‘in an unknown direction’, local Baptists said. Indications are that they were taken after they refused to allow their church building to be used for the referendum held to rubber stamp the annexation of the eastern Ukrainian territory by Russia.
A spokesperson for the Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) said: ‘The abduction of the Ponomaryovs is a deeply worrying development for all involved. Our partners on the ground have been trying to find out some information, but sadly nothing has been forthcoming. It is a reminder that in this brutal war, there are pastors, Christian workers and believers who are serving their people in difficult and very dangerous situations. We need to be vigilant as we pray for all of God’s people caught up in these terrible events’.
