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Monday, July 27, 2026

Mizoram’s Chin Refugees From Myanmar – Analysis

File photo of Myanmar Chin women and children.
Photo Credit: DANIEL JULIE, Wikipedia Commons

July 27, 2026
Gateway House
By Sifra Lentin


Key Takeaways:

Significant Refugee Influx: Mizoram currently hosts an estimated 40,000 Myanmar Chin refugees (plus about 1,000 from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts), representing roughly 3.75% of the state’s population (and sometimes up to 5%), driven by Myanmar’s post-2021 civil conflict and unrest in Bangladesh.

Community-Led Humanitarian Response: Support is coordinated through a resilient informal partnership led by the Young Mizo Association (YMA), the state government, church organizations, and international donors; ethnic kinship, shared culture, language, and Christianity motivate Mizos to welcome the refugees as “cousins.”

Emerging Tensions: Despite hospitality, challenges include rising drug trafficking and addiction linked to the Golden Triangle trade, limited legal livelihood options for refugees, remittance-driven land price increases, and regulatory measures such as the reimposed Protected Area Regime affecting mobility.


Aizawl, capital of India’s northeast state of Mizoram, is a sprawling, densely built city that sits atop high mountains and gently slopes down to deep, lush, forested valleys. Its buildings, with few exceptions, are built on stilts and appear to cling precariously to the mountainsides. They flank both sides of its narrow, winding mountain roads – the only connectivity between its far-flung corners.


A district map of India’s northeast state of Mizoram. Champai district witnesses the highest refugee influx from Myanmar Source: ResearchGate


Aizawl and the rest of Mizoram are ideal destinations for the nature-loving tourist. But because it is one of India’s four northeast border states that require an Inner Line Permit (ILP) for even Indian citizens to visit, it is quite rare to encounter tourists on Aizawl’s streets.[1] [2] Flights into Aizawl are filled with Mizos returning home, as well as a sizeable number of Indian Army servicemen reporting back for duty at the Assam Rifles battalion base camp and administrative headquarters.[3]


A Gateway House map showing the border regions of Northeast India (blue) and Myanmar (brown) Source: Gateway House


Mizoram shares a border with Myanmar and Bangladesh. It is currently home to an estimated 40,000 Myanmar Chin refugees, many living in Aizawl, and about 1,000 Bawm and Chakma tribals from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, all of whom look like indigenous Mizos.[4] This is not surprising, as they all belong to the same ethnic family of tribes, share a common culture, language (Tibeto-Burman family of languages), and religion; most are Presbyterian Christians.[5] [6] The foreign tourists in Aizawl are usually expatriate Myanmar Chins from the U.S. who are visiting family living there or crossing the border to their home villages.[7] Many entered the U.S. under the (now largely suspended) United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) from 1980 to 2025.[8][9]

The refugee influx from Myanmar into India, Thailand, and Malaysia, though ongoing since the mid-1980s ethnic conflicts, has peaked with the 2021 military coup in Myanmar. But a wave of refugees crosses over when clashes escalate between the Myanmar military and Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs) in its northeast border states of Chin, Sagaing, and Shan. The ongoing civil unrest in Bangladesh since 5 August 2024 has also brought Bawm refugees from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) into Mizoram’s southeast border villages.

These refugees are putting a strain on a state which is just 12 lakhs in population. Already, refugees form 3.75% of the state,[10] and their numbers sometimes hit 50,000 to 60,000, or 5% of its population, as they did in May 2023 when the Myanmar Army began bombing the EAOs in its northwest. Manipur, another Indian Northeast state, which also shares a border with Myanmar, currently hosts just 8,000 Myanmar Chin refugees after deporting many home in 2024.[11]

So, how does Mizoram, India’s most remote state, bordered by two neighbours in political turmoil – Bangladesh and Myanmar – cope with the ebb and flow of refugees? And what drives its people to host them?


The answer to the first is the resilient informal partnership among civil society organisations, various church denominations, the state government, and international funding agencies and donors, which pool their resources and expertise to address the humanitarian crisis whenever it erupts.

The Young Mizo Association (YMA) flag Source: Wikipedia

In this quartet, the foremost civil society association in refugee aid is the Young Mizo Association (YMA), with its vast network of 830 district groups and village branches in Mizoram. The presence of YMA (pronounced Y-mah) is everywhere. In Aizawl, the YMA flag, with its three consecutive horizontal stripes of red, white, and black, is everywhere – very different from the political party flags and hoardings that are common in most Indian cities. YMA flags are painted on traffic police islands and flutter from rooftops. It is a community-based, non-political organisation, founded in 1935 by Christian missionaries and Mizo Christians, with a membership of 500,000 in Mizoram and with a presence in Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Assam, and Tripura. It even has a branch in Bangladesh.[12]


The second pillar is the Mizoram state government, which funds a large share of humanitarian aid. In the first year after the 2021 coup, it disbursed Rs 3.80 crore.[13] It has been approaching the central government for aid, which last month disbursed Rs 10 crore in rice aid to Mizoram’s refugees. Also, state-run schools provide free education through the 10th and 12th standards to refugees.[14] The next pillar is the many church organisations, such as the international Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), which fund health camps at local hospitals and classes for refugee children.[15] The last are international agencies and donors, like the Chin Health Organisation, operated by former Chin refugees in the U.S.

What motivates the Mizo to host these refugees? Prof. Malsawmliana, the secretary general of the Central YMA, Aizawl, says they consider the Chin as “our ethnic relatives or cousins”. We welcome them with open arms and administer humanitarian assistance.” According to him, the initial aid when the influx began was deployed by YMA village branches, especially those in Champai District, which always bears the brunt of any humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. As regards the recent Bawm refugees from Bangladesh, given their smaller numbers, the Group YMA in southeast Mizoram looks after them.

In addition to tribal and familial loyalties, a key convergence is Christianity.

Like a majority of Mizos, the Chin too are Christians. Christian missionaries arrived in this region after it was finally subdued by the British Indian Army in 1896, in a campaign that began in 1871 after the abduction of six-year-old Mary Winchester, the child of a Scottish tea estate manager in the Cachar Hill Tracts (Assam), by one of the Mizo tribal chiefs.[16] Within 50 years, the hill tribes, whether Kuki, Zo, Hmar, Ralte, Chin, or Naga, were largely converted to Christianity, mostly Presbyterianism.[17] The influence of church pastors on the daily lives of their flock is profound even today. It is visible in the number of churches of different denominations at almost every traffic turn in Aizawl.

Solomon’s Temple, a church and tourist attraction in Aizawl Source: Wikipedia

Despite this commonality between the local Mizo and Chin refugees, there are several areas of unease.

Ever since the 1980s, when Myanmar’s ethnic conflicts began, its illicit drug economy has grown in financial heft and spread across the land. Myanmar is part of the ‘Golden Triangle’ of illicit drug-exporting countries of Southeast Asia, which include Laos and Thailand. Since the military takeover in 2021 and with northwest Myanmar in the hands of EAOs, YMA secretary general Malsawmliana says the drug manufacturing units have shifted from Laos to the Indo-Myanmar border. This makes the Chin refugees both vulnerable and useful. They are used as carriers across the border and as peddlers. The local availability of drugs has increased addiction amongst local Mizo youth. Locals say the street price in Aizawl for a shot of heroin is just Rs 200 (USD $2).[18] “This”, says Lalduhthlana Ralte, a local Mizo from the Ralte tribe who, after retirement from the Indian foreign service – he was India’s ambassador to the Philippines and India’s High Commissioner to Brunei – has settled in Aizawl, “is of grave concern for Mizos who have largely lived protected lives as part of India, unlike their Chin brothers and sisters who have had it rough.”


A large part of this problem, locals say, is because Chin refugees have no legal avenues to earn a living, leaving the informal economy as their only source of income. Most refugees work as house help, taxi drivers, and day labourers and loiter in the bazaars; they often come across as ‘rude’ to the soft-spoken, courteous local Mizo.[19]

To tackle the drug menace, the state home department, police, excise, and narcotics launched ‘Operation Jericho’ in 2025 with the Central YMA, which has been very successful. Mawlsawmliana of YMA says, “The aim was that the 14 border villages should put in more effort to stop the transit of drugs through their villages.” The police have now also been posted here. The grassroots intelligence has led to increased drug seizures, resulting in a shift of routes to the Myanmar-Manipur border.[20]

Another point of unease is Chief Minister Lalduhoma’s outreach to overseas Mizos for FDI. There are a small number of Mizo families residing abroad. “This is something the people of Mizoram don’t like. We view Mizos outside Mizoram with a jaundiced eye,” observes Ralte. The two types of ‘outside’ money entering the state are drug money and refugee money. The refugee dollars are remittances from Chin refugees settled in the U.S. and Canada, resulting in their refugee relatives in Mizoram having plenty of money. Refugee dollars are rapidly buying up land in Aizawl and its surroundings, driving up prices beyond the reach of locals. Ralte points to the introduction of two flights a day on the New Delhi-Aizawl route. ‘Mizoram’s population alone would not justify the economics,’ he says, adding that the people returning ‘home’ for a visit are not Mizos but Myanmar Chins, who are identifiable to locals by their distinct dialect but are not recognisable by ordinary Indians.


To regulate the influx of foreigners, the Indian government reimposed the stringent Protected Area Regime (1958) in 2025, after relaxing it in 2011. A foreign tourist must have a Protected Area Permit before travelling to Mizoram. An unintended fallout has been on the few international students studying at Mizoram University who must leave and can return only once they have this permit.[21]

For most Indians, Mizoram is the most remote Indian state and one they may never visit. But even a brief sojourn to this green mountainous state reveals its strategic importance in India’s Act East policy, sandwiched as it is between Bangladesh and Myanmar. Though distant from the peninsular mainland, the problems faced by local Mizos like drug abuse amongst young adults share a common angst with some of India’s bigger and more developed states.

References:

The other three border states requiring ILPs are Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh.

Most locals spoken to commend the Indian government’s northeast connectivity push, especially the newly operational railway line to Sairang, a terminus 17 km by road from Aizawl. The last segment – Bairabi-Sairang – was completed in June 2025 and inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13 September 2025. Building this segment was challenging and an engineering feat due to the susceptibility of its mountainous terrain to landslides. Of note is the towering 114-metre bridge 196, which is 42 metres taller than the Qutub Minar.

The Assam Rifles operational base has recently shifted 15 kms away from Aizawl to Zokhawsang, although some operations and key administrative offices still function from Aizawl city. Its 95-acre base within the city was handed over to the state government under a 2024 agreement.

Many Myanmar refugees seek protection in neighbouring Thailand and Malaysia. Thailand is currently home to 90,000 refugees housed in nine camps in its bordering Tak district. The earliest refugees arrived here in the mid-1980s. Voice of America (VOA), “White House Order Halts Myanmar Refugee Resettlement Deal with Thailand,” February 8, 2025. https://www.voanews.com/a/white-house-order-halts-myanmar-refugee-resettlement-deal-with-thailand/7967957.html

The previous umbrella term used to refer to the northeast mountain tribes was the Lushai Hill tribes. After the 1986 Peace Accord with the Mizo National Front, which envisaged the formation of a new state – Mizoram – the tribes within this state’s territory (Kuki, Zo, Ralte, Hmar, Chin, etc.) all call themselves ‘Mizo’ (Mi = Mountain, Zo = People, or people of the mountains).

The Chin and Mizo dialects differ, although they belong to the same Tibeto-Burman family of languages. Only a Mizo speaker can distinguish the local dialect from its close cousin dialect spoken by the Chin.

The Free Movement Regime (FMR) on the India-Myanmar border, meant to facilitate border trade, is greatly curtailed, with only one (Zokhawthar) functional border crossing in the State of Mizoram. The current FMR permits only residents living within 10 kms to cross over to Myanmar, and they must return within seven days at the same border crossing to return their temporary pass.

See Gateway House’s CFR Fellow Purvi Patel’s article ‘US’s Temporary Protected Status for Myanmar’ (4 April 2024) Gateway House, “Understanding Myanmar’s Temporary Protected Status,” February 13, 2025. https://www.gatewayhouse.in/understanding-myanmars-temporary-protected-status/


The USRAP was introduced under the Refugee Act of 1980 and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on 17 March 1980. Today, it is greatly curtailed (only 7500 refugees permitted in 2026) and suspended, except for specific groups like white South Africans, by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in January 2025. The United States of America has a few thousand (~35,000) Myanmar-origin citizens and residents, many of whom are refugees from Chin, Shan, and Sagaing states of Myanmar. They are concentrated largely in Indianapolis, Indiana, with some in the state of Texas. Indianapolis Monthly, “Welcome to Chindianapolis,” December 12, 2020.
https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/arts-and-culture/welcome-to-chindianapolis/
People interviewed by the author spoke of about 12 lakh-plus persons. The India Census 2011 data states 10,97,206 persons, while the projected population for 2026 is 13,08,967 according to https://indiacensus.net/states/Mizoram

The civil unrest in the State of Manipur caused by clashes between the Meitei and Kuki has resulted in the Ministry of Home Affairs closing Manipur’s border with Myanmar. Many Myanmar Chin refugees from this state were deported home in 2024, in light of the ongoing civil unrest.

The legal status of YMA is that it is registered as a society under the Indian Societies Registration Act (Act XXI, 1860). It has five lakh members and 830 branches in Mizoram. The branch in Bangladesh came up in this author’s interview with Central YMA’s general secretary, Prof. Malsawmliana. This interview took place on 11 June from 3 to 4 pm.
See the Mizoram Finance Minister’s speech in the state assembly on the refugee crisis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncuteHdNc10

The state government in the initial stage of the humanitarian crisis deployed its own funds, but as the conflict in Myanmar and Bangladesh (the CHT has an ethnic insurgency movement) borders continues, it applies for central funding. The latest tranche of Rs 10 crore is under Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme to Mizoram. The Hindu, “Centre to Provide ₹10 Crore Rice Aid for Refugees in Mizoram,” June 14, 2026. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/centre-to-provide-10-crore-rice-aid-for-refugees-in-mizoram/article71098587.ece

ADRA is an international humanitarian aid network, established by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and is headquartered in Silver Springs, Maryland.

The first inroad by the British Indian government was in 1871 to rescue Mary Winchester, a six-year-old abducted by one of the Mizo tribal chiefs during a raid into Alexandrapur in the Cachar Hill Tracts (Assam). Mary Winchester, called Zoluti in the tribal chief’s household, was recovered from the tribe she lived amongst. Local lore says that at first she refused to return home to England but finally relented.

The Presbyterian Church appealed to the tribals because it combined tribal structures (a committee of elders) with evangelical elements. There are different Christian denominations like Welsh Presbyterian, Baptist, Pentecostal, Salvation Army, Adventist, and Roman Catholic and sects (like the white-marbled Solomon’s Temple, which is listed as a tourist site).

Myanmar’s northwest border states are under the control of Ethnic Armed Organisations, and conditions here are disturbed; drug manufacturing facilities have also shifted from Laos closer to the India border. They enter India’s border states via traditional forest trails. What has led to unease among Mizos is that most drug carriers arrested so far have been Chin refugees, who undertake this work out of desperation to support their families. The heads of these drug cartels are not necessarily Chin, and they are difficult to nab, as they are often located overseas.

India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention (1951) and its 1967 Protocol, which defines the rights of refugees and the responsibilities of the host nation.
Drugs are not the only items being smuggled across this border. Arms smuggling is also sizeable, as indicated by the recent arrest of an American and a Ukrainian attempting to cross into Myanmar from Mizoram.

The Diplomat. “India Reimposes Restrictions on Foreign Nationals Visiting Three Northeastern States.” January 13, 2025.


About the author: Sifra Lentin is Bombay History Fellow at Gateway House.

Source: This article was written for Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations.


About Gateway House
Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations is a foreign policy think-tank established in 2009, to engage India’s leading corporations and individuals in debate and scholarship on India’s foreign policy and its role in global affairs. Gateway House’s studies programme will be at the heart of the institute’s scholarship, with original research by global and local scholars in Geo-economics, Geopolitics, Foreign Policy analysis, Bilateral relations, Democracy and nation-building, National security, ethnic conflict and terrorism, Science, technology and innovation, and Energy and Environment.
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Friday, July 24, 2026

South African faith leaders respond to prolonged anti-migrant violence

(RNS) — Churches are calling for restraint, humanitarian support and law and order as xenophobic unrest deepens.
















Protesters march against illegal immigration, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)


Tonny Onyulo
July 24, 2026 
RNS

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — After nearly two months of sustained anti-migrant unrest across parts of South Africa, Christian leaders are intensifying efforts to calm tensions, support displaced communities and discourage vigilante violence that has pushed more than 160,000 foreign nationals to leave the country.

The violence, which began weeks ago and has persisted in waves across several provinces, has included protests, intimidation and attacks targeting undocumented migrants. While some demonstrations have remained peaceful, others have turned deadly. According to figures compiled by AFP from governments repatriating their citizens, at least 12 people have died during the unrest.

Religious leaders say they have been steadily engaging communities, issuing pastoral guidance and providing humanitarian assistance as the crisis has unfolded.

At a recent Global Day of Prayer event, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, founder of the global Pentecostal ministry Christ Embassy, reiterated calls he and other faith leaders have made over recent weeks for restraint and respect for the rule of law.

“Don’t destroy your own country while you’re thinking that you’re trying to save it from these immigrants,” Oyakhilome said.

While acknowledging that concerns about crime and undocumented migration have been building for years, he emphasized that individuals must not take enforcement into their own hands.


People watch protesters march against illegal immigration through a closed window of their apartment, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

“There’s a process; there’s a way to do it,” he said, adding that suspects should be handed over to law enforcement rather than subjected to violence.

Oyakhilome also warned that mob action, once normalized, can spiral beyond control and damage entire communities.

“A mob is as bad as fire, as bad as a flood,” he said. “It can destroy a whole city, destroy a whole country.”

For over a decade, South Africa has experienced periodic outbreaks of mob violence fueled by public frustration over crime, economic hardship and perceptions of government inaction. Human rights organizations say xenophobic attacks have recurred since at least 2008, when violence targeting migrants from elsewhere in Africa left more than 60 people dead and displaced tens of thousands. Similar outbreaks in 2015 and 2019 saw foreign-owned businesses looted and migrants attacked, reinforcing a pattern in which public anger has targeted outsiders.

As the unrest continues, churches across affected areas have increasingly taken on frontline roles — not only condemning violence but also responding to its consequences. Congregations have opened their doors to displaced families, provided food and temporary shelter and offered trauma counseling to victims who have lost homes, businesses and livelihoods.


Malawian migrants receive tea and a sandwich for breakfast at a temporary deportation center, in Durban, South Africa, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

The scale of departures underscores the severity of the crisis. According to an AFP tally based on figures released by repatriating governments, Zimbabwe reported more than 108,000 citizens had returned home by mid-July, Malawi reported more than 46,000 returnees since early June and Mozambique reported nearly 2,000 returnees. Other governments, including those of Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Lesotho, also assisted citizens who chose to leave South Africa.

South Africa’s economic challenges — including unemployment exceeding 32%, rising crime and deteriorating public services — have fueled frustration. Anti-immigration movements such as March and March and Operation Dudula argue that undocumented migrants compete with South Africans for jobs, strain public services and contribute to crime.

Church leaders and human rights advocates have consistently cautioned against blaming migrants for systemic issues such as corruption, inequality and weak governance, warning that such narratives risk deepening divisions and fueling violence.

Archbishop Sithembele Sipuka, president of the South African Council of Churches, has been among those repeatedly urging restraint since the unrest began. In a pastoral message in early June, the council condemned ongoing violence and intimidation.

“Across our land, a wave of hostility and violence has risen against our brothers and sisters from other countries living among us,” Sipuka said. “What began as growing tension and organized protest has, in some instances, resulted in injury and the tragic loss of life.”

Sipuka emphasized that South Africa’s challenges are rooted in longstanding structural problems rather than the presence of foreign nationals.

“We cannot continue to keep silent as other children of God continue to be discriminated against and dehumanized,” he told RNS, adding that faith leaders would continue to speak out and urge unity across national lines. He said churches were spreading a message of love and compassion so that locals can see foreigners as their brothers and sisters and children of God.

Similarly, the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has issued multiple statements during the crisis, denouncing attacks on migrants as violations of human dignity and warning political leaders against exploiting public frustration for political gain.


Displaced migrants queue at a deportation site, in Durban, South Africa, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo)

In several communities, church representatives have facilitated dialogue between migrants, local residents and authorities in an effort to defuse tensions and prevent further violence.

Pastor Albert Nswadi of Goma International Pentecostal Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo said the prolonged nature of the unrest reflects both genuine public frustration and the politicization of migration.

Having previously ministered in South Africa, Nswadi said he witnessed how quickly economic hardship and insecurity can be redirected toward foreign nationals.

“Instead of addressing the root causes of crime and poverty collectively, the narrative shifts, turning neighbors against one another just because of where they were born,” he said.

He noted that the persistence of the violence over several weeks suggests deeper societal fractures that require both policy responses and community healing.

“The government must fix the laws, but the church must heal the people,” Nswadi said, adding that faith leaders must continue working to rebuild trust and counter fear-driven narratives.

Despite these appeals, some anti-immigration groups and residents have criticized church leaders, arguing that they have failed to acknowledge the economic and security concerns many South Africans associate with undocumented migration.

Bongani Sithole, a local resident, said communities have raised issues related to undocumented migration for years without meaningful government action. He argued that criminal networks exploit migrants and contribute to broader insecurity.

“There is a criminal network in South Africa that feeds off illegal immigrants from all over,” he said.

Another resident, Zanele Mthethwa, said many citizens believe undocumented migration is linked to crime and drug trafficking and that authorities have failed to respond effectively.

She also stressed the importance of respecting the law.

“If you’re a Christian and you’re in South Africa illegally, do the right thing,” she said.

Oyakhilome urged citizens to channel their frustrations through lawful means such as peaceful protest and civic engagement, rather than violence.

“Prove yourself to be educated, distinguished, wise and understanding,” he said.

As the unrest continues into its second month, religious leaders say their focus remains on preventing further violence, supporting those affected and reminding communities that justice and compassion must go hand in hand.

“We must choose compassion over fear and unity over division,” Sipuka said.

Saturday, July 11, 2026

 

Ukraine war fatigue laid bare by anti-conscription riot in Lviv

Ukraine war fatigue laid bare by anti-conscription riot in Lviv
Tempers boiled over in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv when locals clashed with TCK conscription officers and rioted, smahing up thier car in the orocess. / bne IntelliNewsFacebook
By Ben Aris in Berlin July 10, 2026




Tensions are approaching boiling point in Ukraine after citizens rioted in a protest against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s compulsory conscription programme in the western city of Lviv on July 9.

An anti-mobilisation demonstration turned violent after a large crowd of people attacked recruitment officers, before overturning and smashing their car. The clash broke out spontaneously after a member of the press gang, reportedly a martial arts coach, hit a man in the street.

Ukraine’s social media has become full of footage of the much-hated officers of the Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centres (TCK) grabbing men from the street and brutally beating them before roughly manhandling them into vans in a process that has been dubbed “busification.”

Often wives, babushki and passers-by intervene in an attempt to rescue the victim – usually without success. The “recruit” is then taken to a processing centre where they are kept in prison-like accommodation before being given a brief military training and shipped off to serve on the front. According to reports, the life expectancy of many of these green, underprepared troops is counted in the weeks.

Russia is reportedly losing over 1,000 men a day, but Ukraine is also taking heavy losses. Ukraine’s manpower shortage is much more acute than Russia’s which continues to receive some 25,000 men a month, through its voluntary recruitment programme – not quite enough to replace losses at the front, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

While Ukraine’s losses remain a state secret, Russia is losing between three and eight men for each member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) taken out of action, according to various sources. Based on those ratios then Ukraine is losing approximately 125–330 personnel daily.

Both the attacker/defender kill ratios and estimates of the number of Russians killed and wounded must be taken with extreme caution. The actual figures remain an extremely politically sensitive subject.

Iuliia Mendel, Zelenskiy’s former press secretary, who has become an outspoken critic of her former boss, has questioned all the estimates and is starkly critical of the compulsory conscription programme, as one of the few dissenting voices from Ukraine’s elite.

The authorities reacted harshly to the Lviv riot. The Ministry of Defence, law enforcement, and government officials insist that the burdens of war are shared equally—and that anyone protesting them is doing the "Kremlin’s work," reports Marta Havryshko, a Ukrainian analyst and government critic. A 23-year-old man that participated in the riot was arrested and faces up to eight years in prison.

“Branding every act of dissent as Russian subversion may be politically convenient, but it cannot conceal a deeper reality: public anger over coercive mobilization and the unequal distribution of wartime sacrifice is growing,” Havryshko said in a social media post. “An unsanctioned Maidan—one without Western approval—is unlikely to succeed. But that should not be mistaken for public consent. A government can suppress protest. It cannot indefinitely suppress the grievances that produce it.”

Social impact

The social impact of the war has been dire. According to a new report, Ukraine’s homeless population has surged to one million during the full-scale war. Nearly half of those now living rough on the street are internally displaced people (IDPs) whose homes and lives were destroyed by the invading Russian forces.

The brutal tactics of the TCK officers is fuelling resentment and coming under increased scrutiny. The number of physical attacks on offices is increasing and at least two officers have been killed in scuffles with their victims.

In the most recent case last week, a 34-year-old father from Kryvyi Rih, was snatched by the TCK officers in front of his 5-year-old daughter as he picked her up from school. The father was the sole caregiver after the mother abandoned the family, leaving the girl with no one to look after her, which under Ukrainian law excludes the father from conscription. The principal of the school took the daughter to the TCK offices to try and secure his release without success. It was only after the story went viral on social media, including a video of the little girl sobbing in the playground, that the authorities relented and released the father.


The majority of Ukrainians continue to support the government in the war against Russia, but support for fighting until the complete liberation of all occupied territory has declined. Ukrainians have become more pragmatic without becoming more willing to concede to Russia, according to Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). Around 70% say they do not expect current attempts at peace talks to produce a lasting settlement. Only 17% think the war will end by the summer of 2026 and another 14% expect it to end before the end of the year. Only 31% expect the war to finish during 2026.

Despite growing war weariness, most Ukrainians still reject recognising Russian sovereignty over occupied territory, but more recently have conceded that some territory will be lost, which they would accept if a “just” ceasefire deal can be struck.

The war is also becoming unpopular in Russia that is eating into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings. The share of respondents in the VTsIOM poll saying they trust Putin declined to 75%, down from 76.7%, to its lowest level since the invasion four years ago. But Zelenskiy's approval rating has fallen even further to around 58% according to the more recent polls.

Ukraine: Conscientious Objectors Convicted, Jailed, Held In Military Units – Analysis


July 12, 2026
 F18News
By Felix Corley


Key Takeaways

Ukraine Is Aggressively Prosecuting Conscientious Objectors — Prosecutors have launched over 1,000 criminal cases against men (mostly Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Baptists, and Orthodox) whose applications for alternative civilian service were rejected, with about 500 cases reaching court.

Hundreds Are Jailed or Held in Military Bases — At least 24 conscientious objectors are currently serving prison sentences, with 7 awaiting appeals and 21 in pre-trial detention. Hundreds more (including ~300 Seventh-day Adventists and 50 Council of Churches Baptists) are being held against their will on military bases, often facing pressure and torture.

No Alternative Service During Wartime — Despite martial law and UN concern, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry insists alternative civilian service does not exist during wartime. A promised new law to allow it has not yet reached Parliament, despite a June 2026 deadline. Courts are handing down prison terms of 3–6 years under various Criminal Code articles.


Prosecutors have launched more than a thousand criminal cases to punish conscientious objectors whose applications for alternative service have been rejected. About 500 cases are believed to have already reached court. In cases known to Forum 18, 24 conscientious objectors are in jail serving sentences, with a further 7 awaiting appeals. Courts handed 11 conscientious objectors probation or restricted freedom sentences. Courts are hearing at least 12 new cases, while 21 conscientious objectors are known to be in pre-trial detention.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Baptists, Orthodox and others are among those convicted and jailed after Recruitment Offices rejected their applications for alternative civilian service on grounds of conscience.


(For a list of some of those convicted and jailed, convicted and awaiting appeals, convicted and serving probation sentences, in pre-trial detention, and forcibly held on military bases, see below. Those whose sentences have been completed are not included.)

Recruitment Offices have forcibly taken hundreds of conscientious objectors aged from their twenties to their late fifties to military bases against their will. There they often face pressure and torture. Of those currently being held, about 300 are Seventh-day Adventists, while 50 are Council of Churches Baptists (see below).

Many Jehovah’s Witnesses are among those forcibly taken to military facilities, “where they have sometimes been held for days or even months,” Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18 in June. “Once there, they often face physical abuse and emotional pressure to compromise their neutral stand.”

In addition, one man, 50-year-old Council of Churches Baptist Dmytro Koval, died in military detention on 21 March. When returned to his family, his body showed signs of brutal treatment (see below).


On 9 March, a court in Mykolaiv Region jailed 42-year-old Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objector Volodymyr Klementiev for six years. Mykolaiv Appeal Court rejected his appeal on 14 May. “To date, this is the longest prison sentence imposed on one of our brothers since the war in Ukraine began,” Jehovah’s Witnesses noted. The previous longest prison sentence was of five years.

On successive days in June, a court in Chernihiv Region found two Seventh-day Adventist conscientious objectors guilty. The Judges jailed Andrii Skliar and Ihor Kiktev – both in their thirties – for a combined period of 5 years and one month each.

After Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Ukraine declared a state of martial law. All men between the ages of 27 (later reduced to 25) and 60 were deemed eligible for call-up in a general mobilisation and were banned from leaving the country. Ukraine’s Defence Ministry insists that even the limited alternative service allowed in peacetime does not exist during wartime (see below).

Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), noted the “sharp increase” in requests for alternative service from 2025. The Office of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsperson) told the DESS that it had received 2,395 appeals from individuals about the denial of their request to perform alternative service “due to their religious beliefs” between Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine between 2022 and 2025, more than two-thirds of them in 2025 alone.

In March, the United Nations (UN) Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine renewed earlier UN concern about the lack of the possibility of conducting alternative civilian service at a time of war. It has also expressed concern about violence against conscientious objectors who have been forcibly taken to military bases.

The ⁠Rule of Law Roadmap, adopted by Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers on 14 May 2025, identifies priority reform areasin the fields of the judiciary, prevention and fight against corruption, protection of fundamental rights, as well as justice, freedom and security. The document forms part of Ukraine’s commitments under the EU accession process.


The Roadmap identifies a “strategic goal”: “The right to conscientious objection to military service on grounds of religious belief is ensured during martial law.” The Roadmap set a deadline of the end of June for “Development and adoption of a law on ensuring the right to undergo alternative service during martial law, for a special period”. The government has assigned the task of preparing the new Law to the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture. It has prepared a first draft, according to Yelensky of the DESS.

As of 10 July, no draft Law to allow for alternative civilian service for conscientious objectors during wartime has yet reached the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament), despite the end of June deadline in the Cabinet of Ministers’ Roadmap. Yelensky of the DESS told Forum 18 on 24 June that the Economy Ministry’s draft Law from the beginning of 2026 “is not even a draft, just a draft of a draft”.

The Defence Ministry’s “categorical position” – set out at a February Presidential Office meeting – is that alternative service must be undertaken within the army.
Severe human rights violations in Russian-occupied Ukraine

Serious violations of freedom of religion and belief and other human rights take place within all the Ukrainian territory Russia has illegally occupied.

Arrests, prosecutions, trials

After Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Ukraine declared a state of martial law. All men between the ages of 27 (later reduced to 25) and 60 were deemed eligible for call-up in a general mobilisation and were banned from leaving the country. Ukraine’s Defence Ministry insists that even the limited alternative service allowed in peacetime does not exist during wartime.

Prosecutors bring cases against conscientious objectors under Criminal Code Article 336 (“Refusing call-up for military service during mobilisation or in a special period, and for military service during call-up of reservists in a special period”). The punishment is a jail term of three to five years.

More recently, prosecutors have increasingly brought cases under Criminal Code Article 402 (“Disobedience”), Article 409 (“Evasion of military service by means of self-mutilation or otherwise”) or Article 407 (“Absence without leave from a military unit or place of service”). The punishment for offences committed under martial law under these Articles is a jail term of 5 to 10 years.

In earlier prosecutions, conscientious objectors were generally jailed only when they lost their appeals after conviction. However, courts are placing an increasing number in pre-trial detention before a trial has even begun.

More than a thousand conscientious objectors prosecuted

Many conscientious objectors have faced prosecution since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 after Recruitment Offices rejected their applications on grounds of conscience for alternative civilian service. They include Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Baptists, Orthodox and others (see lists below).

Prosecutors have launched more than a thousand criminal cases to punish conscientious objectors whose applications for alternative service have been rejected. About 500 cases are believed to have already reached court. In cases known to Forum 18, 24 conscientious objectors are in jail serving sentences, with a further 7 awaiting appeals. Courts handed 11 conscientious objectors probation or restricted freedom sentences. Courts are hearing at least 12 new cases, while 21 conscientious objectors are known to be in pre-trial detention (see lists below).

Courts have handed down prison terms, which are then suspended and the individual is put on probation for a defined period (usually between one and three years). If they commit another offence during this period, the original prison term will then be applied.

As of 2 June 2026, 1,091 criminal cases had been launched against Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objectors, a lawyer representing more than 50 of them told Forum 18 in June. Of these, 418 cases had been sent to court. A total of 12 men had been sentenced, with a further 21 in pre-trial detention.

More than 90 per cent of these cases against Jehovah’s Witnesses had been brought under Criminal Code Article 336 (“Refusing call-up for military service during mobilisation or in a special period, and for military service during call-up of reservists in a special period”), the rest under Articles supposed to be used only against those in the military.

Courts have handed 41 Jehovah’s Witness men probation sentences (of which 10 have come into force), a lawyer told Forum 18 on 8 July. (5 of these cases are listed below.)

Courts have closed some criminal cases mid-trial as conscientious objectors’ circumstances have changed. Some were closed with the birth of another child in the family (fathers with three or more are exempt from mobilisation), or when a religious leader has persuaded the court that his mobilisation should be deferred as his religious community has been designated a part of the country’s “critical infrastructure”. (About a third of registered religious organisations now have this designation.)
Hundreds of conscientious objectors held in military bases

Recruitment Offices have forcibly taken hundreds of conscientious objectors aged from their twenties to their late fifties to military bases against their will, despite their expressing a willingness to perform alternative civilian service. Soldiers – often using torture – pressure them to accept joining the army.


A Council of Churches Baptist, 50-year-old Dmytro Koval, died in military detention on 21 March. When returned to his family, his body showed signs of brutal treatment.

Nearly 300 Seventh-day Adventists are being held against their will in military units or military training centres, a representative told Forum 18 on 9 July.

Council of Churches Baptists list 50 of their men held against their will in military units (see list below).

The military has allowed a few men, including Council of Churches Baptists, to serve in roles that do not violate their conscientious beliefs. Such individuals are allowed to serve in the military without swearing the military oath, without wearing a uniform and without bearing weapons. They are assigned to such tasks as cleaning, cooking or repairing vehicles. Such service is not acceptable to the majority of conscientious objectors, who will not serve in any role associated with the military.
Repeat prosecutions?

A number of conscientious objectors sentenced since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 have completed court-imposed sentences. None is so far known to have faced renewed mobilisation and repeat prosecution. As war and the state of martial law continue, and as men are eligible for mobilisation until the age of 60, it is possible some might face renewed mobilisation attempts.

Consecutive administrative fines are routinely imposed. “Given the large size – nearly an average monthly salary (in case of enforcement, twice so) – these could be considered as having a criminal character,” Yurii Sheliazhenko of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement and the Institute of Peace and Law told Forum 18 on 10 July.


A Kyiv Recruitment Office fined Sheliazhenko twice – on 11 May and 4 June – under Article 210-1, Part 3 of the Administrative Offences Code (“Violation of legislation on defence, mobilisation training and mobilisation”), according to the decisions seen by Forum 18.

“I received a notice a month later that a new fine will be imposed on 5 August,” Sheliazhenko told Forum 18. “The notice says I continue to ‘evade’ military duty. They know they repeatedly punish people for the same ‘offence’ of conscientious objection.”
LIST OF KNOWN PROSECUTED CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS

Listed here are known conscientious objectors, giving their date of birth or age (where known) and religious affiliation:
– Conscientious objectors who died in military bases (1 case)
– Conscientious objectors jailed serving sentences (24 cases)
– Conscientious objectors sentenced, awaiting jailing (2 cases)
– Conscientious objectors sentenced, awaiting appeal (7 cases)
– Conscientious objectors handed probation/restricted freedom sentences (11 cases)
– Conscientious objector sentenced to military restrictions (1 case)
– Conscientious objectors on trial (12 cases)
– Conscientious objectors in pre-trial detention (21 cases)
– Prosecutor challenging acquittal (2 cases)
– Conscientious objectors held against their will on military bases (50 Council of Churches Baptists)


The true number of cases in any category may be higher.

Those whose sentences have been completed are not included.

The lists below are based on court decisions, information from individuals and religious communities, and other information known to Forum 18. Cases are listed in alphabetical order of name within each section.
Conscientious objectors who died in military bases

1) Dmytro Bohdanovych Koval (born 30 January 1976)
Council of Churches Baptist
Died 21 March 2026, 425th Assault Regiment Skelya
When returned to his home town of Kovel on 30 March 2026, his body showed signs of brutal treatment.
Conscientious objectors jailed serving sentences

1) Hennadii Hryhorovych Barabash, 48
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 407, Part 5, 5 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 16 February 2026, Stryi City District Court, Lviv Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, Lviv Appeal Court, 30 June 2026
Taken to prison: 10 June 2025
Release due: 10 June 2030
Prison: Lviv Penitentiary Institution No. 19

2) Serhii Volodymyrovych Bashkirov, 58
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 29 January 2026, Yampil District Court, Vinnytsia Region, 2 years’ probation
Appeal: 18 May 2026, Vinnytsia Appeal Court changed to 3 years’ imprisonment
Second appeal: Supreme Court, ongoing
Taken to prison: 8 June 2026
Release due: 8 June 2029
Prison: Vinnytsya Penitentiary Institution No. 1


3) Serhii Viktorovych Ivanushchenko, 48
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 28 March 2024, Bilopillia District Court, Sumy Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, 13 December 2024, Sumy Appeal Court
Taken to prison: 11 February 2025
Release due: 12 February 2028
Prison: Pervomayska Penal Colony No. 117, Kharkiv Region

4) Andrii Borysovych Khomenko, 50
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 26 July 2024, Okhtyrka District Court, Sumy Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, Sumy Appeal Court, 23 December 2024
Second Appeal: unsuccessful, Supreme Court, 27 November 2025
Taken to prison: 3 February 2025
Release due: 4 February 2028
Prison: Sumy Detention Centre
Supreme Court: “Notably, one of the three judges dissented from the Court’s opinion. Citing the Constitution of Ukraine and several international human rights laws, the judge described prosecution on the grounds of conscientious objection as ‘unnecessary’,” Jehovah’s Witnesses note.

5) Volodymyr Kostyantynovych Klementiev, 42
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 407, Part 5, 6 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 9 March 2026, Mykolaiv District Court, Mykolaiv Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, Mykolaiv Appeal Court, 14 May 2026
Taken to prison: 20 October 2025
Release due: 20 October 2031
Prison: Mykolaiv Detention Centre
Criminal Code Article 336
Sentenced: 27 January 2026, Kherson City Court
Appeal: Kherson Appeal Court, due 22 July 2026

6) Andrii Bohdanovych Kliuka, 40
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 407, Part 5, 5 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 16 July 2025, Kamianets-Podilskyi District Court, Khmelnytskyi Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, Khmelnytskyi Appeal Court, 24 November 2025
Second Appeal: Supreme Court, ongoing
Taken to prison: 16 July 2025
Release due: 16 July 2030
Prison: Kolomyia Penal Colony No. 41, Ivano-Frankivsk Region


7) Vasyl Pavlovych Kononchuk, 54
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 28 January 2026, Dubrovytsia District Court, Rivne Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, Rivne Appeal Court, 26 May 2026
Taken to prison: 28 January 2026
Release due: 28 January 2029
Prison: Rivne Detention Centre

8) Oleksii Oleksandrovych Kovalenko (born 30 November 1980)
Dzogchen Buddhist
Criminal Code Article 336, 4 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 9 October 2024, Darnytskyi District Court, Kyiv
Appeal: 7 August 2025, Kyiv Appeal Court
Second Appeal: 11 December 2025, Supreme Court refused to open cassation proceedings
Taken to prison: 27 October 2025
Release due: 27 October 2029
Prison: Pivdennoukrainsk Penitentiary Institution No. 83, Mykolaiv Region

9) Dmytro Serhiiovych Kozhemiakin, 36
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 26 January 2026, Kalynivka District Court, Vinnytsia Region, 1 year’s probation
Appeal: 28 April 2026, Vinnytsia Appeal Court changed verdict to 3 years’ imprisonment
Taken to prison: 26 May 2026
Release due: 26 May 2029
Prison: Vinnytsya Penitentiary Institution No. 1

10) Viktor Mykhailovych Marko, born 1995
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 8 November 2024, Chortkiv District Court, Ternopil Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, 3 December 2025, Ternopil Appeal Court
Taken to prison: 22 January 2026
Release due: 23 January 2029
Prison: Chortkiv Penitentiary Institution No. 26, Ternopil Region
Note: cares for his elderly parents and grandmother


11) Andriy Ivanovych Mishchenko
Christian (no community affiliation)
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 5 September 2025, Andrushivka District Court, Zhytomyr Region
Appeal: none
Prison: Pivdennoukrainsk Penitentiary Institution No. 83, Mykolaiv Region

12) Rustam Emomovich Nazarov
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 26 August 2025, Orativ District Court, Vinnytsia Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, Vinnytsia Appeal Court, 10 November 2025
Taken to prison:
Release due:
Prison:

13) Serhii Anatoliyovych Nechayuk, 35
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 10 December 2024, Yarmolyntsi District Court, Khmelnitsky Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, 17 February 2025, Khmelnitsky Appeal Court
Second Appeal: Supreme Court, ongoing
Taken to prison: 3 March 2025
Release due: 3 March 2028
Prison: Kolomyia Penal Colony No. 41, Ivano-Frankivsk Region

14) Ihor Serhiyovych Nosenko (born 23 July 1997)
Seventh-day Adventist
Criminal Code Article 402, Part 4, 5 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 23 June 2025, Kolomyia City District Court, Ivano-Frankivsk Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, 15 October 2025, Ivano-Frankivsk Appeal Court
Second Appeal: unsuccessful, Supreme Court, 26 March 2026
Taken to prison: 16 January 2025
Release due: 16 January 2030
Prison: Kolomyia Penal Colony No. 41, Ivano-Frankivsk Region

15) Dmytro Vasylovych Petrov, 49
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 19 November 2025, Staryi Sambir District Court, Lviv Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, Lviv Appeal Court, 3 February 2026
Taken to prison: 11 March 2026
Release due: 11 March 2029
Prison: Drohobych Penal Colony No. 40, Lviv Region


16) Vitalii Pavlovych Popov
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 25 September 2024, Shevchenko/Dzerzhynsk District Court, Kharkiv
Appeal: unsuccessful, Kharkiv Appeal Court, 10 March 2025
Taken to prison:
Release due:
Prison:

17) Dmytro Anatoliiovych Prodan, 32
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 18 November 2025, Yampil District Court, Vinnytsia Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, Vinnytsia Appeal Court, 24 February 2026
Taken to prison: 18 March 2026
Release due: 19 March 2029
Prison: Pivdennoukrainsk Penitentiary Institution No. 83, Mykolaiv Region

18) Serhii Mikhaylovych Semchuk (born 1992)
Baptist
Criminal Code Article 402, Part 4, 5 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 8 May 2024, Shevchenko/Dzerzhynsk District Court, Kharkiv Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, Kharkiv Appeal Court, 30 September 2024
Taken to prison: 29 January 2025
Release due: 30 January 2030
Prison: Lviv Penal Colony No. 19

19) Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Serbul, 45
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 29 October 2024, Ripky District Court, Chernihiv Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, 22 January 2025, Chernihiv Appeal Court
Taken to prison: 24 March 2025
Release due: 24 March 2028
Prison: Chernihiv Detention Centre

20) Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Shnyra, 34
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 28 May 2025, Starokostiantyniv District Court, Khmelnytskiy Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, 18 November 2025, Khmelnytskiy Appeal Court
Taken to prison: 18 December 2025
Release due: 19 December 2028
Prison: Kolomyia Penal Colony No. 41, Ivano-Frankivsk Region


21) Serhii Vasilyovych Starovoit
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 18 December 2024, Popilnya District Court, Zhytomyr Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, 3 March 2026, Zhytomyr Appeal Court
Taken to prison:
Release due:
Prison:

22) Vadym Valentynovych Stasiuk (born 19 October 1999)
Seventh-day Adventist (verdict wrongly gives him as a Baptist)
Criminal Code Article 408, Part 4, 5 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 9 June 2026, Shevchenko District Court, Dnipro City
Taken to prison: 19 February 2026

23) Petro Vasylovych Yatsyshyn
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: District Court,
Appeal: unsuccessful, Appeal Court,
Taken to prison:
Release due:
Prison:

24) Zenovii Mykolaiovych Zhabiak, 27
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 3 December 2025, Zhydachiv District Court, Lviv Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, Lviv Appeal Court, 25 February 2026
Second Appeal: unsuccessful, Supreme Court, 28 May 2026
Taken to prison: 27 March 2026
Release due: 28 March 2029
Prison: Drohobych Penal Colony No. 40, Lviv Region
Conscientious objectors sentenced, awaiting jailing

1) Andriy Bohdanovich Popik (born 1982)
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 4 March 2025, Striy City District Court, Lviv Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, Lviv Appeal Court, 28 October 2025


2) Serhii Ihorovych Stadnitskyi (born 1990)
Protestant
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 26 March 2024, Chervonohrad/Sheptytskyi City Court, Lviv Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, Lviv Appeal Court, 20 June 2024
Second appeal: 4 October 2024, Supreme Court refused to open cassation proceedings
Conscientious objectors sentenced, awaiting appeal

1) Valentyn Oleksandrovych Adamchuk (born 1986)
Pentecostal
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 29 January 2025, Darnytsky District Court, Kyiv Region
Appeal: Kyiv City Appeal Court, pending

2) Denis Yevheniyevych Dudin (born 23 May 1979)
Council of Churches Baptist
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 3 November 2025, Chuhuyiv Town Court, Kharkiv Region
Appeal: unsuccessful, Kharkiv Appeal Court, 2 April 2026
Second appeal: Supreme Court, pending
Not taken into custody

3) Ihor Oleksiyovych Kiktev (born 1989)
Seventh-day Adventist
Criminal Code Article 402, Part 4, Article 409, Part 4, 5 years and one month’s imprisonment
Sentenced: 9 June 2026, Kozelets District Court, Chernihiv Region
Appeal: pending, Chernihiv Appeal Court

4) Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Kurochkin (born 24 November 1984)
Seventh-day Adventist
Criminal Code Article 336, 4 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 2 June 2026, Peresypsky District Court, Odesa Region
Appeal: pending, Odesa Appeal Court
Not taken into custody


5) Mykola Mikolayevich Marko (born 21 April 1991)
Council of Churches Baptist
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 5 November 2025, Kherson City Court
Appeal: Kherson Appeal Court, hearing due 4 August 2026

6) Andrii Hryhorovych Skliar (born 31 October 1991)
Seventh-day Adventist
Criminal Code Article 402, Part 4, Article 409, Part 4, 5 years and one month’s imprisonment
Sentenced: 10 June 2026, Kozelets District Court, Chernihiv Region
Appeal: pending, Chernihiv Appeal Court

7) Ivan Ivanovych Tsebak
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ imprisonment
Sentenced: 26 January 2026 Stryi City District Court, Lviv Region
Appeal: pending, Lviv Appeal Court
Conscientious objectors handed probation/restricted freedom sentences

1) Kostyantin Volodymyrovich Chovhan (born 23 June 1971)
Council of Churches Baptist
Criminal Code Article 336, 2 years’ probation
Sentenced: 2 March 2026, Sakhnovshchyna District Court, Kharkiv Region
Prosecutor’s Appeal: Kharkiv Appeal Court, next hearing due 26 November 2026

2) Zoltan Ivanovych Demesh, 43
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 402, Part 4, 1 year’s probation
Sentenced: 22 June 2026, Yavoriv District Court, Lviv Region
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 8 April 2026, Lychakiv District Court, Lviv City
Lviv Penitentiary Institution No. 19
The judge said Demesh could remain free on bail under condition that he live inside a military facility. Based on his personal convictions, he declined the offer and remains in custody.

3) Yuriy Viktorovych Harkusha
Baptist
Criminal Code Article 336, ?1 year’s probation
Sentenced: 7 November 2025, Kherson City Court
Prosecutor’s appeal: unsuccessful, 1 April 2026, Kherson Appeal Court


4) Artyom Mikolaiovich Kravtsov (born 1993)
Baptist
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ probation
Sentenced: 19 October 2023, Kryve Ozero District Court, Mykolaiv Region
Appeal: none

5) Vitaly Mikhailovych Kriushenko
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 1 year’s probation
Sentenced: 8 July 2024, Bilopillia District Court, Sumy Region, 3 years’ imprisonment
Appeal: unsuccessful, 5 December 2024, Sumy Appeal Court
Taken to prison: 27 January 2025
Second appeal: 27 October 2025, Supreme Court refused to overturn guilty verdict but reduced sentence to one year of probation, released same day

6) Roman Yaroslavovych Kvik, 39
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 2 years’ probation
Sentenced: 23 May 2025, Netishyn City Court, Khmelnytskyi Region, 3 years’ imprisonment
Appeal: unsuccessful, Khmelnytskyi Appeal Court, 17 November 2025
Taken to prison: 11 December 2025
Second appeal: 6 May 2026, Supreme Court refused to overturn guilty verdict but reduced sentence to two years of probation, released same day

7) Dmytro Oleksyiovych Pasechnik
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 3-year jail term, 1 year’s probation
Sentenced: 20 November 2025, Dykanka District Court, Poltava Region

8) Oleksii Vasylovich Pozniak (born 19 February 1978)
Council of Churches Baptist
Criminal Code Article 336, 2 years’ probation
Sentenced: 3 December 2024, Dobroslav/Komintern District Court, Odesa Region, 3 years’ imprisonment
Appeal: Odesa Appeal Court, 8 June 2026, changed to 2 years’ probation

9) Oleh Heorhyovych Shpilovii
Seventh-day Adventist
Criminal Code Article 336, 2 years’ probation
Sentenced: 16 April 2026, Oleksandriya City District Court, Kirovohrad Region


10) Vitalii Mykolaiovych Stepaniuk
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336, 1 year’s restricted freedom
Sentenced: 8 December 2025, Lyuboml District Court, Volyn Region, 2 years’ imprisonment
Appeal: 23 April 2026, Volyn Appeal Court changed punishment to 1 year’s restricted freedom
Second appeal: Supreme Court, ongoing

11) Volodymyr Volodymyrovich Ukhal (born 1992)
Orthodox
Criminal Code Article 336, 3 years’ probation
Sentenced: 24 October 2023, Tyachiv District Court, Zakarpattia Region
Prosecutor’s appeal: next hearing due 5 October 2026
Conscientious objector sentenced to military restrictions

1) Oleksandr Andryovych Prun
Seventh-day Adventist
Criminal Code Article 402, Part 4, 1 year ban on promotion and 10 per cent reduction in pay
Sentenced: 9 March 2026, Kolomyia City District Court, Ivano-Frankivsk Region
Conscientious objectors on trial

1) Volodymyr Oleksandrovich Baranov
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 402
Trial: Darnytsky District Court, Kyiv, next hearing due 28 July 2026

2) Kirilo Oleksandrovych Berestovoi (born 8 May 1988)
Council of Churches Baptist
Criminal Code Article 409, Part 4
Trial: Kostopil District Court, Rivne Region, next hearing not yet set
Under house arrest since 23 May 2025, after release from military unit

3) Andrii Yaroslavovych Bobyk
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 407, Part 5
Trial: Ivano-Frankivsk City Court, next hearing due 8 July 2026
Ordered held in pre-trial detention


4) Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Horbatiuk
Seventh-day Adventist
Article 336
Trial: Lutsk City District Court, Volyn Region

5) Vasyl Manuylovych Ivanitskyi
Seventh-day Adventist
Criminal Code Article 402, Part 4, next hearing due 25 September 2026
Trial: Kolomyia City District Court, Ivano-Frankivsk Region

6) Pavlo Oleksandrovych Kovalchuk
Seventh-day Adventist
Criminal Code Article 336, next hearing due 26 August 2026
Trial: Rozdilna District Court, Odesa Region

7) Mykhailo Mykhailovych Liubchenko, 43
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 407, Part 5
Trial: Kostopil District Court, Rivne Region, next hearing due 6 August 2026
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 5 November 2025, for at least three months. He was in 2026 released on bail

8) Andrii Hennadievych Priymak (born 1984)
Council of Churches Baptist
Criminal Code Article 336
Trial: Zarichne District Court, Sumy Region, next hearing due 8 October 2026

9) Dmytro Serhiyovych Prokhodovskyi
Seventh-day Adventist
Criminal Code Article 402, Part 4
Trial: Sosnivskyi District Court, Cherkasy City, next hearing not yet set

10) Roman Oleksandrovych Sarhosh, 34
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 407, Part 5
Trial: Yavoriv District Court, Lviv, ongoing
Prison: Lviv Penitentiary Institution No. 19
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 15 May 2026, Lychakiv District Court, Lviv
Note: Sarhosh’s great-grandfather, grandfather and father were all imprisoned for their faith.


11) Mykhailo Yuriyovych Savochka
Pentecostal
Criminal Code Article 336
Trial: Vasylkiv District Court, Kyiv Region, next hearing due 13 August 2026

12) Vadim Mikhaylovych Yedinak (born 1998)
Council of Churches Baptist
Criminal Code Article 336
Trial: Liubar District Court, Zhytomyr Region, next hearing due 8 September 2026
Conscientious objectors in pre-trial detention

1) Tiberii Tiberiiovych Boiok, 42
Jehovah’s Witness
Lviv Penitentiary Institution No. 19
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 1 May 2026, a court in Lviv Region

2) Mykhailo Anatoliyovych Diavoliuk, 46
Jehovah’s Witness
Lviv Penitentiary Institution No. 19
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 20 April 2026, Zaliznychnyi District Court, Lviv City

3) Denys Myroslavovych Havranyk, 28
Jehovah’s Witness
Zakarpatska Penitentiary Institution No. 9
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 8 May 2026, a court in Zakarpattia Region

4) Oleksii Eduardovych Holoviatynski, 49
Jehovah’s Witness
Lviv Penitentiary Institution No. 19
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 8 April 2026, Lychakiv District Court, Lviv City


5) Yurii Hordynskyi
Jehovah’s Witness
Detention Centre
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: September/October 2025, for at least two months.

6) Mykhailo Mykhailovych Hoshiy, 49
Jehovah’s Witness
Zakarpatska Penitentiary Institution No. 9
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 3 June 2026, a court in Zakarpattia Region

7) Mykola Fedorovych Ivanskyi, 55
Jehovah’s Witness
Dnipro Penitentiary Institution No. 4
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: September/October 2025, for at least two months.

8) Ruslan Khramtsov, 39
Jehovah’s Witness
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 2 March 2026, Lychakiv District Court, Lviv City

9) Oleksandr Petrovych Kovtun, 47
Jehovah’s Witness
Khmelnytskyi Detention Centre
Investigation under Criminal Code Article 336
Ordered held in pre-trial detention:

10) Ihor Mykolaiovych Melnychenko, 35
Jehovah’s Witness
Rivne Detention Centre
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 9 February 2026, officials extended pretrial detention.

11) Artur Leonidovych Miroshkin, 30
Jehovah’s Witness
Lviv Penitentiary Institution No. 19
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 5 May 2026, a court in Lviv Region extended pretrial detention


12) Serhii Mykhailovych Myinov, 48
Jehovah’s Witness
Izmail Detention Centre, Odesa Region
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 25 February 2026, Peresypskyi District Court, Odesa City

13) Vitalii Volodymyrovych Nedzelenko, 46
Jehovah’s Witness
Lviv Penitentiary Institution No. 19
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: September/October 2025, for at least two months.

14) Kostiantyn Anatoliiovych Perevozenko, 42
Jehovah’s Witness
Lviv Penitentiary Institution No. 19
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 7 April 2026, Lychakiv District Court, Lviv City

15) Bohdan Denysovych Rohov, 25
Jehovah’s Witness
Zakarpatska Penitentiary Institution No. 9
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 8 May 2026, Vynohradiv District Court, Zakarpattia Region

16) Oleksii Volodymyrovych Rudov, 40
Jehovah’s Witness
Rivne Detention Centre
Investigation under Criminal Code Article 407, Part 5
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 22 October 2025, Rivne City Court, since extended by Kostopil District Court, Rivne Region

17) Oleksii Oleksandrovych Sushko
Jehovah’s Witness
Investigation under Criminal Code Article 336
Shevchenko District Court, Lviv

18) Liubomyr Vasyliovych Tomchuk, 47
Jehovah’s Witness
Lviv Penitentiary Institution No. 19
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 28 May 2026, court in Lviv Region


19) Bohdan Illich Turushev, 30
Jehovah’s Witness
Zakarpatska Penitentiary Institution No. 9
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 3 June 2026, a court in Zakarpattia Region

20) Artem Serhiiovych Voroniuk, 28
Jehovah’s Witness
Izmail Detention Centre, Odesa Region
Investigation under Criminal Code Article (alleged military crime)
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 23 May 2026, a court in Odesa Region

21) Ivan Fedorovych Zorivchak (born 21 June 1969)
Baptist
Investigation under Criminal Code Article 407, Part 5
Ordered held in pre-trial detention: 6 March 2026, Uzhhorod City District Court, Zakarpattia Region
Released on bail 10 March 2026
Prosecutor challenging acquittal

1) Oleksii Oleksandrovych Belikov
Baptist
Criminal Code Article 336
Acquitted: 19 March 2025, Kyiv District Court, Kharkiv Region
Prosecutor’s Appeal: Kharkiv Appeal Court, next hearing 16 July 2026

2) Serhii Oleksandrovych Tatarov
Jehovah’s Witness
Criminal Code Article 336
Acquitted: 12 January 2025, Boryspil Inter-District Court, Kyiv Region
Prosecutor’s Appeal: Kyiv Region Appeal Court, pending
Conscientious objectors held against their will on military bases

(All these listed here are Council of Churches Baptists. Many other conscientious objectors are also held on military bases.)
1) Ihor Pavlovych Alyokhyn (born 30 March 1978)


2) Mykola Mykolayovych Arkhyptsov (born 13 April 1977)

3) Serhii Anatolyovych Arshava (born 1973)

4) Volodymyr Vasilyovych Bula (born 1977)

5) Serhii Bulai

6) Vasyl Stanyslavovych Bugayev (born 1974)

7) Arkadii Anatolyovych Bondarenko (born 1 January 1967)

8) Pavlo Valeryovych Butmerchuk (born 21 April 1995)

9) Mykhailo Drozdov (born 11 October 1996)

10) David Volodymyrovych Harbovskyi (born 23 October 1997)

11) Oleksandr Hariachykh (born 1980)

12) Ruslan Leonydovych Hasiuk (born 18 August 1973)

13) Ihor Mykolayovych Hodunko (born 1971)

14) Oleksandr Vitalyovych Homon (born 11 July 1992

15) Illya Anatolyovych Hordeyev (born 21 October 1992)

16) Tymofyi Oleksandrovych Husak (born 7 November 1997)

17) Yehor Anatolyovych Iseyev (born 1995)

18) Ruslan Mykolayovych Ishchenko (born 1971)

19) Oleh Viktorovych Kachur (born 1997)

20) Volodymyr Viktorovych Kamenskykh (born 1976)

21) Myroslav Vasilovych Kaniuk, (born 1974)

22) Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Kanunnykov (born 21 September 1982)

23) Vyacheslav Leonydovych Kharenko (born 9 January 2001)

24) Ruslan Yakovych Kliuchnyk (born 1974)


25) Volodymyr Stepanovych Koshkolda (born 1973)

26) Yosyp Mykolayovych Kravchenko (born 11 August 1997)

27) Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Kuchynskyi (born 5 January 1981)

28) Yuryi Lomakovych (born 22 March 1997)

29) Dmytro Lysyk (born 22 September 1987)

30) Serhyi Volodymyrovych Mandziuk (born 16 May 1971)

31) Dmytro Mantulenko (born 5 June 1973)

32) Andryi Mikhaylovych Margita (born 30 July 2000)

33) Yuryi Ivanovych Matvyichuk (born 23 December 1967)

34) Mykola Olehovych Mysnyk (born 24 August 1988)

35) Dmytro Vasilyovych Nazarchuk (born 1997)

36) Pavlo Vasilyovych Nazarchuk (born 13 June 1995)

37) Nazar Vasilyovych Panasenko (born 16 November 1995)

38) Anatolyi Olehovych Pasychnik (born 1 May 1972)

39) Serhyi Borysovych Pavlik (born 11 November 1972)

40) Petro Valeryanovych Prysiazhniuk (born 9 November 1998)

41) Oleksandr Mykhailovych Redkostin (born 1973)

42) Matvyi Viktorovych Sapozhnikov (born 1995)

43) Oleh Oleksandrovych Shcherbyna (born 13 July 1993)

44) Petro Yaroslavovych Shkraba (born 7 June 1974)

45) Mykyta Oleksandrovych Soldatkin (born 1988)

46) Andryi Vasilyovych Sytarchuk (born 8 March 1991)

47) Volodymyr Vasilyovych Taratuta (born 13 January 1996)


48) Oleksandr Dmytrovych Vasianovych (born 27 June 1970)

49) Viktor Andryiovych Vasylyvetskyi (born 22 March 1968)

50) Vadym Vasilyovych Yatsyuk (born 29 September 1978)


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