Ukraine: among the civilians returned from captivity are the deputy head of the Mejlis and 2 priests of the Greek Catholic Church

As part of the latest prisoner exchange, on June 28, 10 civilians were returned to Ukraine, including the deputy chairman of the Mejlis and priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, captured in Berdyansk for resisting the occupiers.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky commented on the latest exchange on social networks:

“We managed to return ten more of our people from Russian captivity. Despite all the difficulties. Nariman Dzhelal, deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, was captured in Crimea back in 2021. Elena Pekh and Valeriy Matyushenko are civilians who were in captivity since 2017-2018. Bohdan Geleta and Ivan Levitsky are priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, captured in Berdyansk for resisting the occupiers. Five more civilians who were captured on the territory of Belarus and deprived of their liberty: Nikolai Shvets, Natalia Zakharenko, Pavel Kuprienko, Lyudmila Goncharenko and Ekaterina Bryukhanova. All of them are now free and at home – in Ukraine.”

November 16, 2022 these priests were arrested in Berdyansk. Donetsk Exarchate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church confirmed this information. According to the Head of the UGCC Svyatoslav Shevchuk, the priests decided to stay with their people in the temporarily occupied territories, served the Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic communities, but they were arrested, accused of illegal possession of weapons.

The return was also reported by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets, who published a photo. The Coordination Headquarters reported that this process The 53rd exchange, which began on June 25 with the release of 90 Ukrainian defenders, ended. The headquarters clarified about the released citizens:

1. Two priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Ivan Levitsky and Bohdan Geletu detained by occupation authorities in Berdyansk in November 2022.
2. Art historian and researcher at the Gorlovka Art Museum Elena Pekh has been in prison since 2018.
3. Political prisoner Valery Matyushenko detained in the Donetsk region back in July 2017, subsequently illegally arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
4. Ukraine also managed to return several citizens illegally detained and convicted in Belarus. Among them Nikolai Shvets, whom the Belarusian authorities accused of blowing up a Russian A-50 long-range radar warning military aircraft at the airfield in Machulishchi.

The Coordination Headquarters also reported that the liberation of Ukrainian civilians occurred through the mediation of the Holy See.

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