UKRAINE, KHARKIV, Mar 27 — Kharkiv court of Kyivskyi district finds a Baptist man working as an engineer and radio physicist in a local institute not guilty of draft evasion. The man, having received a draft notice, wrote a refusal to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reports media Sudovyi Reporter, referencing Ukraine’s Register of Court Cases.  

In May 2024, Ukraine’s Supreme Court formulated a ruling that doesn’t exclude a citizen’s right to conscientious refusal to serve in the military even during martial law, both for people who are members of registered religious organizations that commit to faith teachings forbidding bearing arms—and those who can prove a sincere commitment to such faith outside of registered organizations. 

On July 8, 2024, this Baptist man voluntarily came to the state’s recruitment center to update his data, where he was found fit for military service and informed that he needed to come back to the center to be directed for military training courses four days later. 

The man wrote a refusal to accept a draft notice, referencing his religious belief as a member of Kharkiv Church “Blahodat” [“Bless” from Ukrainian — ed.] When the man didn’t come to the recruitment center in time, recruitment officers claimed he violated the law about preparation for mobilization and mobilization. 

During the court hearings, the man said that, while he was found fit for service, he couldn’t join the service because he had been a part of the religious community of Christian Baptists since 2016. He had a confirmation document from the church as evidence. 

The church itself is on the List of religious organizations whose faith doesn’t allow using weapons that was signed in by Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers on Nov 10, 1999. The man said he’d agree to alternative service if he wouldn’t have to bear and use weapons. 

The man also said that he works in a critical enterprise as an engineer—but the Institute of Radio Astronomy wasn’t able to book him from being recruited (though they’ve started the procedure in May 2024). 

A Baptist Church representative who supported the defendant during court hearings said that some people from the church joined the army—and that whether or not to take up arms is a personal choice of each person.  

The court’s verdict said that the defendant has deep, sincere, and consistent religious convictions that conflict with a committing to military responsibilities, adding: “In court’s opinion, the defendant has the right to conscientious refusal from service in the military and the replacement of it to an alternative (non-military) service.” 

“Alternative service is a service that’s established instead of conscription military service and has a goal of fulfilling obligations before society,” was explained in the Supreme Court’s case from May 2024.

The verdict for this case said that by doing the work the man does as an engineer and radio expert for Ukraine’s army and in his institute, he’s “already participating in resisting the aggression of the Russian Federation in a different way than on the battlefield with a weapon.” 

Other news from Kharkiv