On the evening of November 14 in Lutsk, a Mazda drove onto the sidewalk and hit the clergyman. According to RISU, the driver was 22-year-old Roman Savych, a resident of the village of Zhydychyn, who, according to the service, was found to have 1.27 promille of alcohol. The service was informed of these details by the news agency Volynski Novyny, and the driver's name, as RISU writes, became known from the service's own sources.
The injuries were incompatible with life. According to RISU's description, the bishop had a traumatic amputation of the lower third of his right leg, a crushed pelvis, damaged lungs, and head injuries. His heart stopped on the morning of November 15. As RISU wrote, the bishop "died as a result of the injuries sustained in the accident." Police opened proceedings under Part 3 of Article 286-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which concerns violation of traffic safety rules and operation of transport by persons driving a vehicle. The sanction of this part provides for five to ten years of imprisonment.
According to RISU, the driver tried to flee the scene, but patrol officers detained him near the Promin entertainment center. Savych himself, according to the service, was detained after he had already left the scene of the collision, which distinguishes this episode from an ordinary accident with a victim.
Who the bishop was
Oleh Vedmedenko was born and lived in Lutsk. He graduated from the Kyiv Institute of Civil Aviation Engineers, later renamed the National Aviation University, and then from the Volyn Theological Seminary. It was precisely his engineering education, as observed by those who knew him through his public work, that combined in him with deep bookishness and a gift for teaching. He founded the Bible School of Spiritual Perfection and for many years was its permanent host. The school began operating in February 1997 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Lutsk.
Vedmedenko was a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and in 2009 became a diploma winner of the Ivan Franko Prize in the field of information activity. He is the author of several books: "The Key of David" and "Thy Will Be Done..." were published in 2001, "Spiritual Landmarks" in 2019, "Explanation of Church Services" in 2020. In 2004, in the series "Answers of a Clergyman," "Still the Night..." and "The Taste of Grace" appeared. The public nature of his ministry and his literary work made the bishop's name known far beyond a single parish.
The church he led
RISU also explains the position of the church headed by Vedmedenko. It is a small organization that separated in 2001 from the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. It is not in Eucharistic communion with world Orthodoxy. For the uninitiated reader, this means that the clergy and laity of this church do not partake of the sacraments together with the majority of Orthodox Churches in the world, and therefore its position remains special even within the Ukrainian religious landscape.
Vedmedenko's path to the priesthood was not simple. In 2006, according to sources, a conflict arose with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, which ended in a ban, and on November 5, 2006, he was ordained a priest in the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. In 2012, his consecration as bishop took place, and from 2013 he became Bishop of Volyn and Galicia. In 2015–2019, he was the primate of the Ukrainian Unaffiliated Autocephalous Church, as it is called in some sources. The names of the churches differ in various publications, and RISU in its note uses the full official name of the Ukrainian Apostolic Orthodox Church.
Background of the conflict
The driver's name is connected with another criminal case that had already been considered by a court by the time of the accident. In the summer of 2020, Roman Savych, as established by the verdict, attacked municipal guards in Lutsk with a gas canister. He was sentenced to three years of restricted freedom under Part 2 of Article 350 of the Criminal Code. On October 19, 2021, the Volyn Court of Appeal upheld this verdict. The sentence was not being enforced, and Savych remained at liberty when the accident occurred in which the bishop died.
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