Shocking moment priest is attacked in Germany by wrench-wielding Russian driver who jumps out of his vehicle yelling ‘get that f***ing Ukrainian flag off your car!’
- Priest Sergey Kosyak, 46, was chased and hit by a Russian, 69, living in Germany
- The man spotted a Ukraine flag on his car and said: ‘Take it off your f***ing car!’
- He stopped in front of Fr Sergey and attacked him before being shoved back into his vehicle. No one was injured – but police want witnesses to come forward
- Fr Sergey has lived in Saxony since 2014 and helps resettle Ukrainian refugees
This is the terrifying moment a Russian man pulls up in front of a Ukrainian priest, retrieves a wheel nut wrench from his car and attacks him with it.
The shocking incident, which took place on Saturday in Saxony, east Germany, was prompted by the small Ukraine flag waving from priest Sergey Kosyak’s car.
It ended quickly after a group of passers-by and a passenger in the attacker’s own vehicle were able to get between the Russian man and his victim.
The attacker’s reverse lights show he pulled up in front of Fr Sergey and backed towards him
The man (left) then stopped his car before retrieving a wheel nut wrench from his car boot
He was then pushed back into the front seat of his vehicle before driving away.
Father Sergey, 46, caught the whole attack on his dashcam and posted the video on YouTube.
He has lived in Saxony since 2014 and is head of the Bautzen Ukrainian Assistance Centre, which resettles refugees in Saxony from his native Donetsk.
Kosyak said the violent thug spotted the Ukraine flag waving from his car and yelled in Russian, ‘Take it off your f***ing car!’ before launching into him with the wrench.
He added: ‘It turns out that for Kremlin followers thirsty for Ukrainian blood, our flag acts like sunlight on vampires.’
The priest added he’s now worried what those refugees might face when they arrive.
He was so eager to attack the innocent priest that he left his car boot open during the attack
As the violent Russian rushes over to attack the priest, his companion (right) tries to calm him
After a tussle next to the driver’s seat, a passerby (taller man, left) then steps in to fight him
Kosyak told TAG24: ‘I brought many people to Germany so that they would be safe here. Now something like this is happening here too. We don’t feel protected.’
The priest was not injured in the attack but did immediately call the police, ‘so that he is punished and others do not continue like this’, he said.
Local police, who did not name the attacker but did put out a call for witnesses, said they are now trying to figure out why the man lurched at Father Sergey.
Finally the 69-year-old is thrown back into his vehicle and told to drive away by the bigger man
The driver’s companion, possibly his wife, appears to apologise to the group before driving on
They are investigating the man for attempted dangerous bodily harm and threats.
News of the alleged hate crime came as wealthy Russian influencers cut their Chanel handbags with scissors following the French fashion company’s boycott of Russia.
TV presenter Marina Ermoshkina, who used giant garden pliers on her grey accessory, said: ‘Not a single item or brand is worth my love for my motherland and my self-respect.’
Moscow foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Chanel of joining a ‘Russophobic’ campaign to ‘cancel Russia’.