Ukrainian Boy, 5, Slaughtered 'Like a Goat' by Religious Fanatic

A 5-year-old Ukrainian boy was slaughtered by an alleged religious fanatic as he played in a sandpit with his friends, Pravda reported Tuesday.

The stranger strolled up to little Viktor Shemyakin before pointing to a tree and saying: “Look, there is a bird up there.”

When the youngster glanced upward the maniac plunged a knife into his throat, Pravda said.

The June 18 killing has threatened to ignite tension in the town of Dneprovka, in Ukraine’s Crimea region, after it emerged that the 27-year-old knifeman was a suspected Muslim fanatic, the Russian online newspaper reported.

The victim’s three-year-old sister Lena Shemyakina and her five-year-old friend were among a group of young children who witnessed the horrifying attack.

Viktor’s mother, named only as Angelina, heard their screams and ran out of the house to find her child lying in a pool of blood.

Police arrested the prime suspect, named by Pravda as Server Ibragimov, three hours later at his parents' house, where he was reportedly hiding in the loft.

He allegedly confessed to the crime, telling police that he was ordered to kill the boy by spirits.

“The man screamed Allahu Akbar (Arabic for 'God is great') when killing the boy, "said a shocked local. “The kid was slaughtered like a goat."

Other residents of the town said that the man had serious mental health issues.