Bohdan Geleta
Additional Name(s): Богдана Гелети
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Russia
Religion or Belief: Christian – Catholic
Health Concerns: Diabetes
Date of Detainment: November//2022
Date of Release: June/28/2024
Current Status: Released
Religious Leader: Yes
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment
Reason for Persecution: Religious Figure & Religious Leadership Role
Nature of Charges: Unknown
Bohdan Geleta
Extra Bio Info:
Bohdan Geleta was detained for his religious leadership role.
In November 2022, Russian forces in Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia oblast, Ukraine, reportedly abducted Geleta, a priest and employee of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, and Ivan Levitsky, a hieromonk and rector of that same church. Their abductions reportedly occurred on or around November 16, 2022, with Russian forces searching the church's premises around that same time.
On November 24, 2022, it was revealed in Russian media that Russian forces had detained the two priests and accused them of "subversive" and "partisan" activities directed against Russian forces after allegedly discovering explosives, weapons, and "prohibited literature" on church premises. According to the Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Donetsk, the accusations levied against the two seem to be in retaliation to Ukrainian authorities searching the Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv, which is under the authority of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
In February 2024, Forum 18 reported that Geleta is being held in a prison in Russian-occupied Crimea, Ukraine.
On June 28, 2024, Geleta was released and returned to Ukraine.
Geleta reportedly suffers from diabetes.
Related Cases: Ivan Levitsky
Sources:
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Photo attributed to Information Department of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC)
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“Зеленський: з російського полону повернули ще десятьох українців, серед них – Наріман Джелял” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
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"OCCUPIED UKRAINE: "Disappeared" Greek Catholic priests in Russian Investigation Prisons?" Forum 18
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"OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Russian occupation forces continue to disappear religious leaders" Forum 18
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USCIRF Commissioners Abraham Cooper and Susie Gelman, Tweet, August 30, 2023
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USCIRF Issue Update: Russia’s Religious Freedom Violations in Ukraine July 2023
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"OCCUPIED UKRAINE: After 4 months, are "disappeared" Greek Catholic priests still alive?" Forum 18
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"Єпископ УГКЦ просить посилити молитви за визволення з російського полону двох священиків-редемптористів" Religious Information Service of Ukraine
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USCIRF Hearing: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Implications for Religious Freedom March 15, 2023
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"OCCUPIED UKRAINE: 'There is no one to replace the arrested priests'" Forum 18
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"Russian invaders abduct two Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests from Berdiansk and accuse them of ‘terrorism’" Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG)
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"UGCC demands urgent release of illegally arrested priests in Berdyansk: official statement" Religious Information Services of Ukraine (RISU)
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"ОФІЦІЙНА ЗАЯВА ДОНЕЦЬКОГО ЕКЗАРХАТУ УГКЦ З ПРИВОДУ НЕЗАКОННОГО АРЕШТУ СВЯЩЕННИКІВ У БЕРДЯНСЬКУ" Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Donetsk