In Odessa, an attacker attempted to set fire to a UOC church

On August 27, 2024, in Odesa, an attacker attempted to set fire to the church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Tatiana. The arsonist was detained by local police. This was reported by odessa-life.od.ua.

After the rector’s report, investigators from the regional police and the SBU worked at the crime scene. The offender was identified and detained on the same day near his place of residence in the same district of Odesa. He was a 21-year-old man.

“The police found out that he had bought bottles of Molotov cocktails in one of the supermarkets, entered the church, spilled the liquid around the perimeter of the hall, set fire to a couple of banknotes and threw them on the floor. The banknotes burned and went out. At that time, a clergywoman entered the room. The offender pushed her away and fled,” – the statement said.

The man was served a notice of suspicion of arson under Part 2 of Article 194 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He faces up to ten years in prison. The issue of choosing a type of detention is currently being decided. The motives for his actions will be established during the further investigation. As part of the proceedings, a number of examinations will be ordered, in particular to check the offender’s sanity.

As we reported earlier, on the night of August 23, 2024, an unknown person threw a grenade into the adapted premises of the Holy Protection religious community of the UOC in the village of Strelsk, Rivne region (Sarny Diocese of the UOC), where believers were performing services. Earlier, the local Holy Protection Church was seized by representatives of the OCU, as a result of which the UOC community had to look for another place to meet their religious needs.