Melitopol, a city in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, has traditionally been a hub of religious and cultural diversity. Numerous Christian churches operated there, not only coexisting but also effectively collaborating with one another. Among them, Protestant churches were some of the most active and influential.

Immediately following the start of Russia’s occupation of Melitopol and the wider region in 2022, local Christians faced repression. Clergy were subjected to searches and interrogations by Russian forces. Eventually, several churches were banned and stripped of all property, including their buildings. Priests were either officially deported or forced to flee under threat, with Russian propaganda often accusing them of stockpiling weapons and ammunition. Believers were forced to go underground.

The Kyiv Independent interviewed four of Melitopol’s priests: Bishop Dmytro Bodyu, of the Pentecostal Church “Word of Life,” Father Oleksandr Bohomaz, a priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and Pastors Mykhailo Brytsyn and Ihor Ivashchuk of the Baptist Church “Grace”. Their stories reveal many details of Russia’s systematic terror against Ukrainian Christians — and the identity of some of those who carried out the repression.

Representatives of the Russian occupying forces did not recognize the scale of the disaster and said that there was no need to evacuate civilians.

The investigative documentary’s author, Danylo Mokryk, posed as a representative of a Russian Orthodox organization and reached one of the officials responsible for the persecution. This conversation helped to identify more people involved in the terror.