Presbyter
Saint John Melnychenko was born on September 26, 1889, in the village of Ustye in the Bershad district of Vinnytsia region. From 1917 to 1922, he worked as a teacher in a rural school, and in 1922 he was ordained as a priest and began his pastoral ministry in one of the churches of Vinnytsia region.
On September 5, 1935, Father John was arrested and accused of 'counter-revolutionary agitation of a defeatist nature.' A sentence followed: 7 years in a labor camp. Initially, the priest was held in the prison of Vinnytsia, and then he was transferred in a convoy to the Burminskoye section of the Karlag of the NKVD in Kazakhstan.
In the camp, Father John faced another arrest: on August 14, 1937, he was arrested as an 'active supporter of the Cedric group.' He was charged with 'counter-revolutionary activities in the camp' and 'participation in illegal gatherings and services.' During the interrogation, Father John stated: 'I admit my guilt only in that I sang church hymns, and I do not recognize the other accusations.' On September 10, 1937, along with other clergymen, Priest John Melnychenko was sentenced to the highest measure of punishment. On September 15, 1937, the sentence was carried out, and Father John received the martyr's crown through execution.
