Ukrainian-American pastor recounts his week in Russian captivity

Dmitry Bodyu was released after spending eight days in a Russian-built prison in Melitopol, Ukraine

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Pastor Dmitry Bodyu spent eight days in a cramped prison cell in southern Ukraine after Russian forces accused him of being an American spy.

The Ukrainian American was hooded and dragged from his home in the city of Melitopol on March 19.

The walls of his cell were smeared in blood and the stench from the toilet was so foul he could not eat for days.

“They put a black bag over my head and took me to the prison,” said Mr Bodyu, 50.

Despite being hooded, his intimate knowledge of Melitopol, a city in which he was born and has lived in for most of the past 30 years, allowed him to quickly figure out where he was being taken.

It took him longer to understand why the Russian military had dragged him away.

“It looks like somebody had been talking about me because they knew a whole lot about me and about the church,” Mr Bodyu told The National.

After hours of interrogation, he realised the Russians thought he was an American spy.

Mr Bodyu said one of his interrogators told him the Russians wanted to kill him.

“One of the guys that was there said that the military has some issues with me, big issues. And they said they purchased me a one-way ticket,” he said.

Despite the interrogations and threats, Mr Bodyu said he was treated well throughout his ordeal.

“They were very polite with me, because they really wanted me to work with them and for them later,” he said. “So they were trying to enlist me into some kind of deal.”

But he had a lingering fear that something terrible would happen. He could hear the screams of other prisoners as they were being beaten by soldiers.

“I was always thinking: well, you’re probably going to be next one," Mr Bodyu said.

He ran the popular Word of Life church in Melitopol with a congregation of hundreds.

The Russian military occupies the city, which is considered a gateway to Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

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It appears the military was hoping to gain the trust and influence of Mr Bodyu and he believes he was captured as part of a Russian hearts-and-minds campaign to win over Ukrainian support.

The pastor said he had no information to give the Russians and even less interest in helping their occupation of his beloved city.

Mr Bodyu was not the only high-profile person to be abducted in Melitopol.

On March 11, the mayor was taken by troops and released six days later in exchange for nine Russian soldiers.

After eight days in the squalid conditions, and no communication with family, Mr Bodyu was suddenly released.

But the pastor said he regarded his release as another way the Russians were trying to win him over.

“It's just a one step towards me to tell me, ‘See and how good we are. You know, we let you go',” Mr Bodyu said.

Russian officials continued to visit him at home and the church after his release. Eventually he and his family decided to leave Ukraine.

They travelled through Russia to Poland, where they are now living in Warsaw, waiting for his son-in-law and daughter-in-law to receive visas to the US.

They will head to Mr Bodyu’s parents’ house near Fort Worth, Texas when the visa issues are settled.

But he and his wife are determined to return to Melitopol after their children are settled in the US, to help their compatriots.