Baptist pastor involved in crash that killed four people in Kyiv

Pastor Pavlo Pleshivtsev and the aftermath of the crash. Collage: UOJ

On the evening of June 5, 2026, a major fatal traffic accident occurred in Kyiv at the intersection of Vadym Hetman and Kostiantyn Ushynskyi streets. A 49-year-old driver lost control of his vehicle, which veered off the roadway at high speed and crashed into an underground pedestrian crossing, according to FOCUS.UA.

Four people were killed at the scene, including two police officers who were on duty and a 12-year-old boy. Three other pedestrians sustained injuries.

The driver was identified as Pavlo Valeriyovych Pleshivtsev, a native of Kherson. He serves as the head of the Evangelical Christian Baptist religious community “Church of the Village of Podstepne.” Emergency responders extricated Pleshivtsev from the wrecked vehicle and transported him to an intensive care unit, where he remains under police guard.

It was later reported that the Baptist leader had repeatedly violated traffic regulations. Pleshivtsev had been fined numerous times for speeding and, during the first half of 2026 alone, had already been involved in four traffic accidents. Prosecutors have opened a pre-trial investigation into the deaths.

As previously reported by the UOJ, an intoxicated OCU cleric in the Lviv region was involved in a three-vehicle collision that left one person dead.

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