Ukrainian priests Ivan Levytskyy and Bohdan Geleta were released from a year and a half of Russian captivity with the assistance of the Vatican.
Vatican Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine Visvaldas Kulbokas told LB.ua during the National Prayer Breakfast under the patronage of the President.
During the event, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the priests for their strength and dignity and reminded them that the occupiers had captured them on 16 November 2022 in Berdyansk, where they served in the parish of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The priests were returned with the assistance and mediation of Pope Francis.
"Thanks to the efforts of our team and the mediation of the Vatican, for which I am especially grateful, we managed to return them to freedom," the Head of State noted and reminded that 90 servicemen and 10 civilians had been returned from Russian captivity.
Visvaldas Kulbokas told LB.ua that both Ukraine and the Vatican had made efforts to facilitate the exchange.
"The Holy Father appealed to both the Russian Federation and the Moscow Patriarchate... then the exchange was arranged by Ukraine, the coordination headquarters, they found a scheme for the exchange... The President thanked the Holy Father because there were many efforts on the part of both Ukraine and the Holy See," the nuncio commented.
According to him, there are no longer any Catholic priests in Russian captivity, but there are ministers of other faiths who need to be released.
One of the priests released from captivity, Bohdan Geleta, told LB.ua that he was treated "humanely" as a priest in captivity, but believes that his faith is "small". He noted that he had not yet seen his family before the prayer breakfast.
According to the priest, they were held in different places in Donetsk Region, and only in the last few days before the exchange were they transported to the territory of the Russian Federation.
Bohdan Geleta said he did not know whether he would return to service.
"I still have to meet with the prior, he will tell me what I have to do," he said.
- Bohdan Geleta and Ivan Levytskyy are priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church who were captured in Berdyansk for resisting the occupiers.
- Ivan Levytskyy is from Lviv Region, while Bohdan Geleta is from Ivano-Frankivsk Region.
- Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, the UGCC priests have decided to stay with their people in the temporarily occupied territories. They served both the Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic communities, giving a light of hope to people under occupation.
- The Russians arrested the fathers and, using propaganda techniques, accused them of allegedly subversive activities, weapons possession, support for "extremist organisations", etc.
- According to LB.ua's sources, they were returned in exchange for Metropolitan Ionafan Yeletskykh, who was taken to the border with Belarus the day before, on 25 June, and handed over to Russian representatives.
- Nariman Dzhelyal, Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, and civilians returned home with them.
- Before that, 90 Ukrainians were returned from Russian captivity.