12-hour captivity is over. Russian occupants have recently released the head of Dirbi Church. Father Joan Okhanashvili is in the police station in Gori and is giving testimony to Georgian law enforcers regarding the details of his detention.

The Georgian Patriarchate was also working with the Georgian law enforcers to negotiate with the occupational regime to free the head of Dirbi Church. According to Father Mikhail Botkoveli, the Russian Patriarchate was also addressed with request to free Father Ioane Okhanashvili.

According to one of the versions, the Russian occupants kidnapped Father Ioane Okhanashvili from his home, because the villagers and other clergymen who came to the site saw that the door of his house was open. His car and phone were also there.

Father John frequently moved from Dirbi to so-called neutral territory where St. George"s Church is located. The head of the Dirbi church looked at graves in the village adjacent to the occupation line, but never created problems.

The locals also have another version of kidnapping. Residents of Dirbi and Dvani suggest that Father Ioane, who was serving in Dirbi during the 2008 war, was going to move to the occupied village of Muguti.

This was the first time in recent years when the occupants kidnapped the church person.

The EU was informed about the kidnapping of Father Ioane.