A 31-year-old Ukrainian, Ihor M., has been charged with murder and attempted murder after prosecutors say he stabbed five people at an abbey in Jaroslaw, Poland; one priest later died in hospital. The attack has renewed online anti-Ukrainian hostility amid strained ties.
Investigators' initial findings say the suspect entered Poland from Germany overnight Wednesday to Thursday, intending to travel on to Ukraine, but was turned back at Korczowa because his car lacked required insurance. Prosecutors say he attacked shortly afterward.
Ukrainians are Poland's largest immigrant group, with about 1.5 million living there. A July poll by the Centre for Public Opinion Research found 52% of Poles opposed accepting Ukrainian refugees, the first such majority since Russia's 2014 invasion of Crimea. Local residents told AFP they had noticed more online hate speech and disinformation on the day of the attack; hard-right National Movement members later gathered outside the abbey to lay candles and pray.
