UK may grant asylum to Ukrainians refusing mobilization on religious grounds

The UK Home Office has updated its policy on granting asylum to Ukrainian citizens, indicating that persecution for conscientious objection to military service on religious or political grounds can become grounds for refugee status. The decision is linked to the abolition of the right to alternative service in Ukraine and subsequent penalties for those who refuse to take up arms for conscientious reasons.

As the Information and Education Department of the UOC reports with reference to the official government portal gov.uk, on October 1, 2025, the British Home Office (Home Office) published an updated analytical document (CPIN) on military service in Ukraine. The report pays special attention to the fact that Ukraine has abolished the right to alternative (non-military) service, which previously allowed believing citizens to fulfill their duty to society without participating in hostilities.

The document of the British agency emphasizes that due to the lack of a legal alternative, people who refuse to serve for religious reasons are persecuted. The report states that such people in Ukraine can be sentenced to imprisonment, arrested and in some cases even tortured. Home Office explicitly qualifies such actions as persecution for beliefs.

Other grounds for granting asylum include detention in inappropriate conditions in pre-trial detention centers, which violates Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment), as well as being forced to commit war crimes or other actions contrary to the principles of humanity. At the same time, the UK authorities specify that the mere fact of war, unwillingness to serve or harsh conditions of service are not sufficient grounds for obtaining refugee status. Each case will be considered individually.

We will remind, earlier the head of the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov told about the reaction of US President Donald Trump to the information that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is banned in Ukraine. According to Lavrov, Trump was amazed by what he heard.