On July 29, 2015, Kiev was shocked by terrible news: Priest Roman Nikolaev died from a serious gunshot wound. Parishioners loved him, he was only a little over forty, he still had a wife, a son and a grandson. Attempted on Roman on the night of July 25-26. Two masked men were waiting for the priest to return at the entrance of his house, located on the street. Heroes of Stalingrad. When one of the intruders noticed him, he aimed a shot at his head. Roman’s father was not robbed, as his personal belongings remained with him. The wounded Roman Nikolaev remained bleeding on the stairs until he was discovered by a neighbor who immediately called an ambulance and the police. But in the intensive care unit on the fourth day, the clergyman Roman died.
Roman Nikolaev (priest): biography
Roman was born on February 7, 1975. He served as a monarch at the Temple of Cosmas and Damian since 2004. And in 2005, Roman Nikolaev entered the Kiev Theological Seminary. Since 2009, he begins to serve in the dignity of deacon at the temple of Cosmas and Damian. Since 2013, already 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 Kiev, where he was supposed to serve as rector later on.
Consequence
Law enforcement authorities immediately sent all their forces to search for the perpetrators of the crime and opened a case of intentional murder, which threatens criminals from 7 to 15 years in prison. Now it’s hard to judge the motive for this atrocity.
At all times, killing a priest was considered the most unprecedented thing that only a low person is capable of, because clergymen 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 predetermined.
They said of Roman that he gives the impression of a respectable and friendly person. Due to the power change in Ukraine and the outbreak of war in the Donbass, the situation in the country is still tense, people are divided into two opposing camps and also religiously (the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is constantly accused of all mortal sins). In politics, there was also a severe split. However, Roman Nikolaev, a priest of the UOC-MP, is the person who never exhibited his political views on social networks.
Versions
A slightly strange version is being worked out that the murder could be related to the construction of the temple, since there were activists who opposed its creation.
However, quite strange circumstances are connected with this tragic event. On st. The martyr Tatiana, on February 25, 2014, a solemn event was held - the bishop Theodosius blessed the place and the first stone laying of the temple under construction. On the second day, unknown people poured orange on the commemorative plaque. About this unpleasant event, he wrote on his Facebook page the hieromonks of the Tithes Monastery in Kiev, Malkhizedek (Gordienko).
One of the main reasons
Melchizedek also said that on the site of the temple under construction on August 10, the First Divine Liturgy was served, which was performed by Father Roman Nikolaev. From this time on, the deaneries were informed on the site that services would be held every Sunday and on twentieth days.
Now we come to the most interesting thing that the edition of Sotsіionalna Kraina writes. It turns out that on February 27, 2015, the deputy from the Batkivshchyna party A. Brigints allegedly received a written statement from the residents of the Obolon district of Kiev, who were literally outraged that the UOC-MP began construction of the church on Prirechnaya Street, when there is already one church there. The people's deputy immediately sent a paper to the state administration of Kiev 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, but the criminals have not been found to this day.