A court in Ukraine has ruled that the right to freedom of religion is not absolute in war conditions

The Southern City Court of Odessa Region handed down a guilty verdict to a man who requested that military service be replaced by alternative service for religious reasons. The court ruled that the right to freedom of religion is not absolute and its realization can be limited under martial law, citing the fact that the precedents of the European Court of Human Rights, adopted in peacetime, cannot be unconditionally applied in the current situation.

According to the UOC portal, referring to the materials of the Unified State Register of Court Decisions, on November 10, 2025, the court considered the case of a believer who tried to defend his right to refuse military service. Upon review, the court found the man guilty of evading mobilization.

During the hearing, the defense referred to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), in particular to the case of “Bayatyan v. Armenia”, concerning freedom of conscience. The Court recognized the significance of the ECHR decisions, but emphasized that “the right to manifest one’s religion or beliefs is not absolute.” The decision noted that the ECHR ruling was issued in peacetime, while Ukraine suffers from armed aggression, which does not allow to unconditionally apply this practice to the issues of mobilization at present.

We shall remind you that earlier it was reported that the Cassation Administrative Court of the Supreme Court of Ukraine rejected the appeal of the Kyiv Metropolitanate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the case of termination of its activity. The court upheld the decision of the previous instance, which refused to prohibit the State Service for Ethno-Politics and Freedom of Conscience from taking actions against organizations associated with the Kiev Metropolitanate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church while the main lawsuit to ban it was being considered.