On March 19 at 7:00 a.m., Russian agents invaded the home of Pastor Dmitry Bodyu, the pastor of Word of Life in Melitopol, Ukraine. The agents confiscated all of the family’s electronic devices, including their phones, as well as all of the family’s papers and IDs. Then they took Bodyu, 50, and confiscated his passport.
According to Charisma News sources, the Russian agents only told the family that they were going to talk with him. Since that morning,Bodyu’s family has not heard from him.
NBC News reported that Bodyu’s wife, Helen, said his kidnapping took days to become public.
“They just came in the morning,” Helen Bodyu said. “They took our phones, gadgets, computers, documents—and took him somewhere. I don’t know.”
“They don’t have any news about him,” says one source, whose name Charisma News is protecting for security reasons. “They’ve been asking daily what’s been happening, and they’ve had no response at all.”
The Russians also invaded Word of Life’s church building. “They took all the computers and everything from the church building,” says our source. “They shut it down, and they said that they’re not allowed to have any services anymore.”
Before Russians forces waged war on Melitopol, Word of Life was an active congregation. They had multiple ministries including a children’s ministry, a youth ministry, small groups, an active YouTube channel and even a newspaper called Good News.
Because Melitopol is now controlled by the Russian military, direct communication with members of Pastor Bodyu’s church or family is “dangerous,” per our sources. {eoa}
Rob Vischer is a freelance writer for Charisma News.
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