In a rare instance of direct communication between senior Vatican and Russian officials, the Vatican’s top diplomat thanked Russia’s human rights ombudsperson for her role in the release of Ukrainian priests held in Russian captivity.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, spoke with Tatyana Moskalkova, the Russian official, in a video conference 16 September, the Vatican said.
During the meeting, the cardinal thanked Moskalkova “for the role she played in the liberation of two Ukrainian priests” and “recalled the necessity of safeguarding, in the context of the current conflict, the fundamental human rights enshrined in the international conventions” in addition to discussing other humanitarian issues.
Cardinal Parolin also “made reference to assistance for Ukrainian military prisoners in the Russian Federation and the mutual exchange of soldiers detained in Russia and Ukraine,” the Vatican said in its statement released 18 September.
Redemptorist Fathers Ivan Levytsky and Bohdan Geleta were among 10 prisoners released to Ukrainian authorities in June. The two priests were arrested in the occupied city of Berdyansk 16 November, 2022, and were held in Russian captivity for more than 19 months, accused of the “illegal possession of weapons,” the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said in a statement.