Attempt made to burn the family of UOC cleric alive and later to shoot them
19 September, 2019, in the village of Pershotravnevoe, Zmiev District, Kharkov Region (Ukraine), a local resident tried to burn alive the clergyman of Izium Eparchy of the UOC, Archpriest Leonid Pobigaylenko, and his family. This was reported on the website of Objective media group .
The offender set fire to the house, barn and car of Archpriest Leonid at night, at about 22:30, when the priest’s family was going to bed. At that moment they heard loud pops.
“Then it smelled of smoke. I rushed to the doors, but they did not open: they were intentionally supported by something outside. I got out through the window, opened the doors and took my wife and daughters out into the street. I heard a shot already on the street,” the wronged cleric of the Izium eparchy told about the terrible events of that night.
No one was hurt.
Later, law enforcement officers found gas canisters at the crime scene.
The police found that the arsonist is a 32-year-old man, a son of the clergyman’s neighbor.
After the crime was committed, the ill-doer came home and tried to shoot himself. A bullet hit him in the shoulder. Now the man is undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit.
Law enforcement agencies establish all the circumstances and motive of the crime.
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