Published on: 5 July 2024
DOHI STAFF
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a social media post on X, announced the long-awaited release of Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests, Fathers Ivan Levytsky and Bohdan Heleta, from Russian captivity.
Zelenskyy proudly stated that the Christian priests “are here with us now. They both preached the Word of God in Berdyansk, in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church parish of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary” where on November 16, 2022, “the occupiers abducted them and have kept them in captivity since. Thanks to the efforts of our team and the mediation of the Holy See, to which I am especially grateful, we were able to bring them back to freedom. We believed it was possible. We worked for it.”
When the war first broke out in Ukraine, Levytsky and Heleta chose to remain in the occupied territories and serve their communities. According to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the priests were arrested on false charges of “illegal possession of weapons.”
“They were arrested, followed by some military items being planted in the church and accused of illegal possession of weapons,” the UGCC stated. “There were reports that they were being tortured mercilessly to extract a confession to a crime they did not commit.”
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Ombudsman, claims that Russia has illegally detained over 14,000 Ukrainian citizens since the war began in February 2022. In addition, he asserts that Russian soldiers and occupation officials have committed at least 76 known acts of religious persecution in Ukraine, including the killing or illegal detainment of at least 29 religious leaders.
“The Russian military has repeatedly threatened the total physical elimination of all Evangelical believers, calling them American spies, sectarians and enemies of the Russian Orthodox people,” Lubinets said. “To kill a person, to demolish a church, the Russians do everything to destroy us as a nation.”
Let us continue to pray for the successful return of three more priests who we believe are currently being held in captivity in Russia: Khristofor Khrimli of the Orthodox Church (disappeared in September 2023), Andri Chui of the Orthodox Church (disappeared in September 2023), and Kostiantyn Maksimov of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (disappeared in May 2023).
