Ukraine is developing a law on serving in the army without weapons on religious beliefs

Ukraine is working on the creation of a legislative framework that would allow citizens to perform military service without the use of weapons on the basis of religious beliefs. This initiative, supported by the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), is prompted by numerous court cases against believers and is also part of the country’s commitment to European integration.

According to the Ukrainian Constitution, citizens have the right to replace military service with alternative (non-military) service if the fulfillment of military duty contradicts their religious beliefs. However, according to the ZMINA portal, the current legislation does not provide for such a possibility under martial law. This has led to the fact that in more than three years of full-scale war, not a single application for alternative service has been granted, and believers who refuse to be mobilized for reasons of conscience are being held criminally liable.

Lawyer Dmytro Fitsik, who represents mobilized believers, reported 14 court cases where his clients are accused of evading mobilization and disobedience. “For example, a person who cannot use weapons because of his beliefs, first enlisted as a cook, and when he received an order for a combat order, he refused,” he said. The problem has also attracted the attention of the European Union, which in its enlargement report recommended that Ukraine establish safeguards to protect individuals from prosecution for conscientious objection.

Vyacheslav Gorshkov, a representative of the DESS, emphasized the need to develop a new law or amend the existing ones. As an example, he cited the experience of Armenia, where there are two types of alternative service: non-military service and service in the army without weapons. He also noted that the already existing institute of military chaplains, who are non-combatants and do not receive weapons, can serve as a model for future innovations. “We have such a serious challenge that we can say that Ukraine is a pioneer in this situation, ” Gorshkov said, referring to the difficulty of securing such a right in a full-scale war.

The development of the relevant draft law is part of the government-approved roadmap on the rule of law in the context of EU accession. It is planned that the law will be adopted by the second quarter of 2026. The Ministry of Economy, with the participation of the DESS, the Ministry of Defense and other agencies, has been appointed responsible for the drafting. A working group has already been set up under the DESS to study international experience and adapt it to Ukrainian realities.

Recall, we recently reported that in the city of Smela, Cherkasy region, employees of the Territorial Center of acquisition (TCA) detained the rector of the temple of the New Martyrs of Cherkasy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Father Oleksiy Lukash. According to preliminary data, the clergyman, previously recognized as restricted fit for military service for health reasons, was taken to the military recruitment center, and currently he is not in contact.