Prominent Russian Pastor Beaten to Death

A well-known pastor was beaten to death in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Unknown assailants attacked Yuri Golovin, a 76-year-old pastor at Central Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, outside the home of an elderly church member he intended to visit, according to reports from the Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) and the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists.

After the attack, Golovin was able to get the attention of the church member, who called an ambulance. But the pastor later died at the hospital from his injuries. The motive for the attack is unknown, but the International Christian Newspaper reported that the assailants might have been drug addicts.

In addition to his pastoral ministry, Golovin was head of The Gideons chapter in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast state.

Youth pastor Anton Tretyak said Golovin was “an example of a living Christian, who was not ashamed of witnessing about Christ and living for Christ.”

In a ministry update, SGA President Bob Provost asked Christians to pray that Golovin’s attackers would be brought to justice “and that this tragedy will lead to many new opportunities for the gospel in the St. Petersburg region.”