Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy denounces ‘horrific crime’ after 31-year-old attacks clergy and worshippers in border town.
Published On 24 Sep 2026
One person was killed and four others injured when a man armed with a knife attacked clergy and worshippers at a Catholic monastery in southern Poland.
Police said the 31-year-old attacker, a Ukrainian national, went on a stabbing spree at the 17th-century Benedictine abbey in Jaroslaw, some 30km (19 miles) from the border with Ukraine, on Thursday morning.
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The suspect, who had entered Poland from Germany earlier in the day, reportedly grabbed a knife from the abbey’s kitchen and attacked four men and one woman, including a priest in a confessional, police said.
“Three of the victims are clergy members and two are laypeople; one person has died,” said prosecutor Bozena Harasz-Wołoszyn. Two others were in “critical, life-threatening condition”.
Polish media identified the man who died as a priest. Police did not immediately confirm the identity of the deceased.
Prosecutors said the attacker was headed for a nearby border crossing back into Ukraine but instead went to the abbey.
The motive remains unclear, and doctors will assess whether he was under the influence of alcohol, Harasz-Wołoszyn said.
Leaders respond
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the “murderer” would be “punished with the full severity of Polish law”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack a “horrific crime”.
“The perpetrator of this evil must bear full responsibility in accordance with the law … We are shaken by this evil. Justice must be done.”
The mayor of Jaroslaw, Marcin Nazarewicz, declared a period of mourning until the end of the week.
Stabbings, particularly at religious sites, are extremely rare in Poland, one of Europe’s most Catholic countries.
