Kyiv:

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, recalled the fate of the two Ukrainian clergymen who were captured by the Russian National Guard a year ago. In a video message, the prelate reiterated his appeal to release the two Greek priests. Father Ivan Levytsky and Father Bohdan Heleta were captured by Russian troops a year ago, and to this date, their whereabouts are not known.

Shevchuk said the two Redemptorist priests are subjected to "classic Stalinist repressive methods," whereby they are tortured to extract confessions about "crimes" they did not commit.

The Russian occupation troops arrested priests Levytskyj and Heleta in mid-November 2022 in the port city of Berdyansk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia and took them to an unknown location. Both Redemptorist priests were detained with accusations of terrorism. After Russian forces took Berdyansk in March 2022,  Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of the Zaporizhzhia region on September 30, 2022. Archbishop Shevchuk has been calling for the release of the priests; however, it is not clear whether they are alive or not.

According to Shevchuk, Levytskyi and Heleta ministered to Roman Catholics and Greek Catholics in Berdyansk. Since the outbreak of war, the two priests had apparently decided to remain in the Russian-occupied area to assist the faithful in the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. However, the Russian troops accusing them of ‘subversive’ and ‘guerrilla’ activities detained them.  Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Archbishop Exarchate of Donetsk vehemently rejects these accusations.

In a video message from Kiev, the prelate denounced the state of "inhumane, vicious war" and emphasized the perseverance of the Ukrainian people in the face of hardship. He emphasized the priests' commitment and innocence in calling on the international community, human rights organizations, and all good-willed individuals to do all within their power to obtain their release.