“Caused bodily harm to two citizens”: what is known about the attack on the temple in central Moscow

A man armed with a knife burst into the church of St. Nicholas in the Basmanny district of Moscow and injured two people. This was reported by the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk.

At the time of the attack, a service was held in the temple.

“Police officers, in hot pursuit, detained a 26-year-old resident of the Lipetsk region, who entered the temple building on Bakuninskaya Street on the morning of February 16 and caused bodily harm to two citizens with a knife,” said Volk.

The attacker was detained, he could not explain the motives of his action. The police opened a criminal case on the beatings and hooliganism.

The wolf added that police found a packet of plant material in the attacker.

“A knife and gloves belonging to the detainee were seized at the scene. In addition, he had with him a package with a substance of plant origin, which is aimed at research, ”she said.

A law enforcement source said that, according to preliminary data, the seized substance is marijuana.

The rector of the church, Archpriest Kirill Sladkov, spoke with REN TV about the details of what had happened. According to him, a man with glasses, rubber gloves, a hood and headphones ran into the central altar, he listened to music.

“We approached him with Valery Ivanovich to find out what happened and calmly get him out. At that moment, he drew a knife and stabbed my assistant Valery Ivanovich. After that, all the assistants present at the altar tried to stop him, and at that moment he inflicted two stab wounds to another of my colleagues, Andrei, ”said the rector of the church.

One of the men was injured in the arm, the other in the shoulder, they were hospitalized. Sladkov added that six parishioners were able to stop the man.

According to eyewitnesses of the incident, the man deliberately ran to the altar, he was wearing a red hood.

“We saw how he kicked the door (altar. - RT ). I ran into the hood in red and started to ruin there, ”said the parishioner.

Archpriest Kirill Sladkov said that the man looked like an ordinary parishioner, during the attack he did not shout anything.

According to a TASS source in law enforcement, the attacker is a native of the Lipetsk region Efim Efimov.

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• © Kirill Kallinikov

In turn, mother Efimova said that the young man was not registered either in the police or in medical institutions. The woman admitted that for her and her husband the news of the attack was a complete surprise.

“The police now came to us about our boy: he was just shown on TV. A quiet, calm boy, a believer ... for two years now he has been working in Moscow, working in a construction company, he has several professions: welder, electrician, tiler and others. It works in shifts: it works for a month - a week at home, the object is finished - they are released, ”she said.

The woman added that her son last went to Moscow to earn money on January 8 and promised to come home in March.

After the incident, the head of the information commission of the Moscow diocese, priest Alexander Volkov, said that law enforcement agencies should pay closer attention to security in churches.

He also noted that cases like the attack in the temple on Bakuninskaya Street, "for the most part are not associated with terrorist threats, but with manifestations of inadequacy."

“In this regard, it is difficult to create a protection system, and each priest meets with a variety of people,” Volkov explained.

Meanwhile, in 2018 there were two resonant attacks on churches in Russia, which killed several people.

In May of that year, four militants attacked the Church of the Archangel Michael in the center of Grozny. The attack occurred during the evening service, at that time about 15 parishioners were in the temple. The militants carried firearms and cold steel, as well as bottles with a combustible mixture. As a result of the incident, two policemen were killed, two more were injured.

On February 18, 2018, a similar attack occurred in Dagestan Kizlyar. An armed man opened fire from a hunting rifle at parishioners of the Church of St. George the Victorious, when they dispersed after Sunday's service. Five people became victims of the attack, four more were injured. The shooter was eliminated by security forces.