MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/. The senior priests of two Orthodox churches in the Zhitomir and Sumy Regions of Ukraine have been arrested by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) for spying for Russia, so their lives are in danger and urgent measures need to be taken to set them free, Ivan Melnikov, the vice president of the Russian branch of the International Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, said in a request addressed to Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova, which text was made available to TASS.
"I received a request to protect Orthodox priests, namely the Rev. Yuri Mironets, senior priest of a church in the Novograd-Volynsky district of the Zhitomir Region, the Rev. Alexander Boyko, senior priest of the church in the village of Deptovka in the Sumy Region, who were arrested by SBU officers and have been held in a wide range of pre-trial detention centers in Ukraine for many months. They are publicly suspected of alleged espionage for Russia under Article 111-1 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code (assistance in combat operations against the Ukrainian armed forces)," the statement said.
The document states that the clergymen have suffered torture and that their lives and health are in danger.
"Dear Tatyana Nikolayevna, I request your assistance in taking action to exchange the clergymen as soon as possible and provide other possible assistance to them and their families, namely to assist in their subsequent setting up house, receiving necessary medical care, and employment," the document reads.