In the Khmelnytskyi region, a court sentenced a local resident for refusing to be mobilized due to his religious beliefs

The Khmelnytsky Regional Prosecutor’s Office has brought charges against a resident of the Derazhnyanskyi district of the Khmelnytsky region who refused military service on religious grounds. According to the agency, the citizen stated that his religious beliefs (the specific faith of this person is not specified — ed.) do not allow him to take up arms, and therefore he did not appear at the military unit as required by the draft notice. This was reported on the official Facebook page of the institution.

«Based on a public indictment by the Letychiv District Prosecutor’s Office, the court found a 37-year-old resident of the Derazhnia community guilty of evading conscription during mobilization for a special period (Article 336 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). He was sentenced to three years in prison. In October 2024, following the results of a military medical examination, the man was found fit for military service. In December, he was handed a draft notice to report to the local TRC and SP for dispatch to a military unit for military service. He then categorically refused to accept the draft notice, citing his religious beliefs. According to the man, his beliefs prohibit him from carrying weapons. He did not appear at the time and date specified in the notice,» — the Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

On August 4, 2025, near the city of Kremenets in the Ternopil region, employees of the territorial recruitment center detained and forcibly mobilized Archpriest Serhiy Shymaylo, a cleric of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The priest was on his way to the feast of the Pochaiv Icon of the Mother of God at the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra.