Amidst the escalation of Russian army’s attacks on Ukraine and controversial start of Trump-Putin negotiations seemingly accommodating Putin’s greed of conquest and showing predatory hunger for Ukraine’s natural resources in the White House, Ukrainian Quakers thankful to divine providence for the renewed worldwide interest in ending terrible Russian aggression worshipped in stillness seeking the heavenly guidance and inspiration to contribute actively into achieving a just and lasting peace by nonviolent means. The Quakers are led to hold in the light conscientious objectors to military service, prisoners of conscience Dmytro Zelinsky and Vitalii Kryushenko, to help our Friend Andrii Vyshnevetsky, and to share a story of Valentyn Adamchuk, wrongfully convicted to 3 years of prison for conscientious objection to military service, listening with compassion the moments from his unjust trial and an old poem of people of faith persecuted by totalitarian Soviet regime he recited in his last word before the court.
Yurii Sheliazhenko:
A message from our Friend, John Reuwer: “Dear Friends, your worship time overlaps with my home Meeting near Washington DC. Please know that I will be holding you in the light at the same time. Let us hope that there is renewed interest in ending this terrible war in a just manner”.
Friends, while the Russian army escalates attacks on Ukraine, we have learned about possible negotiations of the United States with the aggressor state in Saudi Arabia. I want to believe that this diplomatic process will stop Russian aggression and contribute to achieving a just and lasting peace. But there will be no justice if the victims of the attack are not given a voice and compensation for inflicted damages. That is why I am concerned that it is still unclear whether Ukraine will be at the negotiating table: in Washington officials say we were invited, and in Kyiv officials say we were not invited.
Peace cannot be built on lies behind closed doors, because lies and conspiracies lead to destruction (Proverbs 19:9; Psalm 35:20), while truth and love, as the Gospel says, lead to a free and perfect life in the kingdom of heaven, where peace reigns instead of enmity (John 8:32; Matthew 5:43-48, 7:21-24).
President Trump is saying the right things about reducing military spending and nuclear disarmament, but I am concerned that he has simultaneously signed an executive order on a very expensive new Iron Dome nuclear program and called on Europe to increase military spending.
President Zelensky rightly expresses the desire of the majority of Ukrainians to end the war in our favor as soon as possible, but he is also talking about creating a European army and long-term military support for Ukraine, so, he prepares for a long war.
Also, Putin’s regime and the Kremlin dictator’s army seem not to be going to stop brutal attack on Ukraine, preparing for a long war, but lying about wanting peace.
I cannot trust those who talk about peace, while preparing for war. And, unfortunately, lies and injustice reign in any war.
I cannot read without pain a court sentence to the Evangelical Christian, a Baptist from Lviv region, who was promised by the military commissar during conscription by mobilization that he would not be forced to kill people in the army, but the commander ordered him to prepare a position for firing, he refused because of his religious beliefs and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
I am glad that there are peaceful people in Ukraine who refuse to commit murder, we must keep them in the light and help them, as we are helping our Friend Andrii Vyshnevetsky to fix a laptop and find an online job to get through this difficult time and sustain his family.
I was moved when I learned that Valentyn Adamchuk, a conscientious objector sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment, read in his last words in the Darnytskyi District Court of Kyiv a poem by dissident Georgiy Vins, a Kyiv pastor and father of one of the members of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group of human rights defenders. This poem was first recited in court during the communist dictatorship’s repressions against Christians in 1966. It is symbolic that back then the judges who persecuted faithful people wrote in their sentences the same thing that is written in black and dark in Adamchuk’s sentence today, contrary to Ukraine’s international obligations to protect human rights: that religious beliefs are allegedly a pretext for draft evasion, even if the conscientious objector insists on his constitutional right to alternative non-military service. Friends, I have translated this poem into Ukrainian and want to show you a short video to remind us of the words of Jesus Christ from the Sermon on the Mount: blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:10).
Artem Denysov:
Friends, when the human right to freedom of religion or belief is violated and completely ignored in the judicial system, this is a truly terrible situation. Although only a few years ago there happened to be cases when the judicial system understood and went to the aid of conscientious objectors. But it seems that now they have some kind of distorted paradigm and a lack of understanding that our State must fulfill its obligations under international treaties to protect human rights. I find it hard to believe that this is happening in our country, and we must understand that this is a dirty stain in the history of Ukraine, which will remind us of itself for many years. But this problem arose not through the fault of our Motherland, but solely due to the wrong interpretation of law by certain individuals who work in the courts, in the prosecutor’s office and other bodies. And this is a truly terrible problem when a person receives an official letter from the office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights that the freedom to hold religious beliefs is absolute, and then he is punished in court for the lawful exercise of the very right, enshrined in international treaties that Ukraine ratified and committed to comply with. We need to think about how to be helpful and how to help our Ukrainian Government to fulfill the obligations that we as a State have undertaken, because behind each such shameful trial are people’s lives, their honest names, their fate, and we will be facing the consequences of the injustice committed for many, many years to come. All wars always end, and situations will arise when, after the war, people will demand fair compensation for all human rights violations both from the aggressor state and from those who violated human rights at home with impunity, who defamed the names of people who tried to nonviolently resist Russian aggression. And we must keep them in the light and think about how to help not only our judges and prosecutors come to their senses, but also help our Government to return to decency and get out of this situation with dignity, without breaking people’s lives, in order to turn honestly the page of war in the history of our country.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:10)
Valentyn Adamchuk, an Evangelical Christian, was wrongfully sentenced by the Darnytskyi District Court of Kyiv to 3 years in prison for a legitimate exercise of his right to conscientious objection to military service, which the court unfairly considered to be a crime of draft evasion during mobilization (Article 336 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Adamchuk’s sentence contains a lie that the communists usually wrote in sentences of repressed Christians: religious beliefs cannot be a reason for “evading” military service. In his last words in court in 2025, Adamchuk read the poem “Not for Robbery” written by Kyiv pastor Georgi Vins and declamated for the first time in 1966 in his last words at the trial of Christians who were persecuted by the totalitarian regime.
Articles 4(2), 18(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights say that even in time of war no one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief, including that which requires conscientious objection to military service.
The 41st report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Ukraine emphasizes that human right of conscientious objection to military service allows no restrictions or derogation in time of war, but domestic law in Ukraine unduly restricts this right. The report also reveals inhuman treatment, torture and imprisonment of conscientious objectors.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE TRIAL
Judge Skuba:
Did Adamchuk explained why he objects?..
Military recruitment officer Soroka:
Yes, he said that he has religious beliefs that he cannot be called up for mobilization. As an option, he offered alternative service, but the law does not provide for alternative service during martial law.
Valentyn Adamchuk:
I didn’t evade the draft.
I believe in the word of God, which freed me from the slavery of sin. And I am a preacher of the Gospel and I preach that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
I am not allowed to use weapons, to take an oath, to wear a military uniform. There is a creed of the Church.
I sent a request to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights and received a response that the Constitution of Ukraine and international treaties have higher legal force over other laws, so a right to alternative service, exemption from military service is absolute and cannot be limited due to the absence or non-regulation by laws of the procedure for its completion during martial law.
Judge Skuba:
The court sentences to the punishment of imprisonment for three years Adamchuk Valentyn Oleksandrovych, who is found guilty in crime of draft evasion during mobilization, according to Article 336 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.