Death of a priest. Roman Nikolaev: biography, investigation and versions of the murder

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

On July 29, 2015, Kyiv was shocked by terrible news: Priest Roman Nikolaev died from a severe gunshot wound. He was loved by the parishioners, he was only a little over forty, he left behind a wife, son and grandson. They attempted on Roman on the night of July 25-26. Two unknown men in masks were waiting for the return of the priest at the entrance of his house, located on the street. Heroes of Stalingrad. When one of the intruders noticed him, he shot him in the head with precision. Roman's father was not robbed, as his personal belongings remained with him. Wounded Roman Nikolaev was left bleeding on the stairs until he was discovered by a neighbor who immediately called an ambulance and the police. But in intensive care on the fourth day, the clergyman Roman died.

Roman Nikolaev (priest): biography

Roman was born on February 7, 1975. He served as sexton at the temple of Cosmas and Damian since 2004. And in 2005, Roman Nikolaev entered the Kyiv Spiritualseminary. Since 2009, he begins to serve as a deacon at the church of Cosmas and Damian. Since 2013, he has already been ordained a priest. Soon he was appointed the main and responsible person for the construction of the Church of St. Tatiana in the Obolon district of the city of Kyiv, where he was supposed to serve as rector in the future.

Consequence

Law enforcement agencies immediately sent all their efforts to search for the perpetrators of the crime and opened a case on the fact of premeditated murder, threatening the criminals with 7 to 15 years in prison. Now it is difficult to judge the motives of this atrocity.

At all times, the murder of a priest was considered the most unprecedented thing that only a low person is capable of, because the clergy do not have the right to defend themselves with fights and weapons, they also do not participate in the political struggle, without sympathizing with either side. Thus violence against the defenseless is ordained.

Roman was said to give the impression of a respectable and friendly person. Due to the forceful change of power in Ukraine and the outbreak of the war in the Donbass, the situation in the country still remains tense, people are divided into two opposing camps and religiously too (the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is constantly accused of all mortal sins). In politics, too, there was a strong split. However, Roman Nikolayev, a priest of the UOC-MP, is the person who has never exposed his political views on social networks.

Versions

Slightly strange version being processedthat the murder could be related to the construction of the temple, as there were activists opposed to its creation.

However, rather strange circumstances are connected with this tragic event. On the day of St. Martyr Tatiana, on February 25, 2014, a solemn event took place - Bishop Theodosius of Boyarsky consecrated the place and the first laying of the stone of the temple under construction. On the second day, unknown people covered the memorial plaque with orange paint. Hieromonks of the Tithes Monastery in Kyiv, Malkhizedek (Gordienko), wrote about this unpleasant event on his Facebook page.

One of the main reasons

Melchizedek also said that on August 10, the First Divine Liturgy was served on the site of the church under construction, which was performed by Father Roman Nikolaev. Since that time, everyone has been informed on the website of the deanery that services will be held every Sunday and on the twelfth days.

Now we come to the most interesting thing that the publication "Social Country" writes. It turns out that on February 27, 2015, a deputy from the Batkivshchyna party A. Briginets allegedly received a written application from residents of the Obolon district of Kyiv, who were literally outraged that the UOC-MP began building a church on Prirechnaya Street, when there was already one church there. The people's deputy immediately sent a paper to the state administration of Kyiv to Vladimir Makeenko to get all the information about the land, by whom and when it was allocated for the construction of the temple.

In general, be that as it may, there are versions, butthe perpetrators have not been found to this day.