Two Seventh-day Adventist English language teachers in Moscow were beaten by members of a street gang March 31. The two teachers were South African Andre Strydom, 23, and American Luke Hamilton, 20, from Southern Adventist University in Tennessee. Strydom and Hamilton were accosted while waiting at the Nagatinskaya Street tram station near the Adventist-run English Language Center in Moscow.

Local Adventist officials report that gang members asked the teachers for cigarettes and money, and when rebuffed, attacked the two men. School authorities called police and Hamilton was taken to hospital, but later released. Police said that they will send additional officers to patrol the street where the attack took place.

These gang members, known as “skinheads,” are especially dangerous in April, the anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s birthday, explain Adventist leaders in Moscow. Officials at the English Language Center have made arrangements to provide safe transportation during the evening for school teachers. There are six teachers at the school, three are non-Russians; one is from the United States, and two from South Africa.