Polish court arrests Ukrainian man who attacked monastery in Yaroslav with a knife

A district court in the Polish city of Yaroslav has remanded a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen in custody for three months on suspicion of a knife attack on the grounds of a monastery.

This was reported by Polsatnews.

The court hearing began at 13:30. The decision was announced after 14:00 by Bożena Harasz-Wołoszyn, a representative of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Przemyśl.

“The court granted the prosecutor’s motion and imposed pre-trial detention on the suspect for a period of three months. Given the suspect’s state of health, he was not brought to court; the court’s ruling specifies that this measure is to be applied in a hospital setting,” Harasz-Wołoszyn said.

The attack took place on the morning of Thursday, September 24. The man attacked four men and one woman with a knife on the grounds of the Yaroslav Abbey on Benedyktyńska Street. A priest died as a result of the attack.

According to investigators, the suspect entered Poland from Germany. He was heading toward the border crossing at Korczowa but did not cross the border. The man entered the monastery grounds and then went into the kitchen area, where he apparently encountered the first people who were subsequently attacked.

The Polish government promised a severe punishment for the suspect. The Ukrainian embassy expressed confidence that the competent authorities would thoroughly and impartially establish all the circumstances of the tragedy.

Later on Friday, it emerged that psychiatric experts had identified signs of acute polymorphic psychotic disorder in the 31-year-old man.