(ACN International. Maria Lozano).
It is with immense gratitude that Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) informs about the release from Russian captivity of Fathers Ivan Levitsky and Bohdan Geleta, on June 28, 2024, as has been confirmed by the Information Department of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), to which they belong. The priests are members of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer and were arrested in occupied Berdyansk on November 16, 2022. Despite the danger, following the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Fathers Ivan Levitsky and Bohdan Geleta chose to stay in the occupied territories, ministering to both Greek and Roman Catholic communities and providing hope under occupation. During their captivity, Fathers Levitsky and Geleta were accused of illegal possession of weapons, charges fabricated to justify their imprisonment. Their prolonged detention was marked by a lack of concrete information about their whereabouts and wellbeing, despite reports of torture and abuse. Despite this, their faith and hope persisted.