No draft Law to allow for alternative civilian service for conscientious objectors during wartime has yet reached the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament). This is despite the end of June deadline in the Cabinet of Ministers' Roadmap for reforms, part of Ukraine's commitments under the European Union accession process. The government tasked the Economy Ministry with preparing a draft, which seems to have stalled within the government. Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, told Forum 18 that the Economy Ministry's draft "is not even a draft, just a draft of a draft".

A closed 17 February meeting in the Presidential Office to consider the Economy Ministry draft reached no conclusion. Three competing positions emerged. The Economy Ministry informed Yurii Sheliazhenko of the Institute of Peace and Law in June that one of the options discussed was the "military model": "alternative service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in non-combat positions (categorical position of the Defence Ministry and the General Staff)" (see below).

Yelensky told a local journalist on 5 June that adopting the Law "largely depends on the Verkhovna Rada, but I do not think that this law will be easily adopted". He added: "Even when it is prepared, it will undergo inter-departmental coordination and public discussion, and at each of these stages it will be expected to be hotly debated" (see below).

Forum 18 has received no response from the Economy Ministry's Press Office to its questions:
- When the Cabinet of Ministers is expected to consider and if appropriate approve the draft Law to send to parliament;
- Whether the draft Law will be in line with the Venice Commission's amicus curiae, allowing all conscientious objectors, not just those with religious objections, to undertake at a time of mobilisation/war an alternative service that is entirely outside the control of the military (see below).

The Defence Ministry and other officials insist that alternative civilian service as guaranteed in the Constitution is not available in wartime. More than a thousand conscientious objectors – of a variety of faiths and none - have had their applications for alternative civilian service denied since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. They have faced criminal cases for refusing to join the military. Hundreds of cases have reached court, and dozens have been jailed for up to six years (see below).

Many more conscientious objectors have been seized on the street. Recruitment Offices then place them against their will in military units. Many are tortured there to pressure them to join the military. One man, 50-year-old Council of Churches Baptist Dmytro Koval, died in military detention on 21 March. When returned to his family, his body showed signs of brutal treatment (see below).

The ⁠Rule of Law Roadmap, adopted by Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers on 14 May 2025, identifies priority reform areas in the fields of the judiciary, prevention and fight against corruption, protection of fundamental rights, as well as justice, freedom and security. The document forms part of Ukraine's commitments under the European Union accession process (see below).

The Roadmap identifies a "strategic goal": "The right to conscientious objection to military service on grounds of religious belief is ensured during martial law." The Roadmap set a deadline of the end of June 2026 for "Development and adoption of a law on ensuring the right to undergo alternative service during martial law or a special period". The government failed to meet this deadline (see below).

Pastor Ihor Bandura, a Deputy Chair of the Baptist Union, described ending the lack of an alternative civilian service in wartime in January 2025 as "a very important issue for us". "We advocate for alternative service for those who hold pacifistic views," he insisted. He hoped that such a law could be adopted and "honestly we are not happy how slow it goes" (see below).

Pastor Roman Prodaniuk, head of Ukraine's Seventh-day Adventist Church, similarly hopes the lack of an alternative civilian service for conscientious objectors in wartime will be overturned. "They are citizens who are ready to defend Ukraine, some in the army without weapons, others outside the army, in a hospital or the Red Cross," he told Forum 18. "The important thing is that they can serve in a way that is not against their conscience" (see below).

Some are sceptical that any new Law will be adopted soon. "The Roadmap is a political, not a legal document," law professor at Lviv National University Serhii Rabinovych told Forum 18. "Officials are playing administrative football with the draft Law" (see below).

Rabinovych says the Economy Ministry was reluctant to prepare the draft Law and the Defence Ministry is "categorically against" allowing conscientious objectors to opt for alternative civilian service in wartime. "There will be serious obstacles. It is very difficult to say if the draft Law will get through" (see below).

Adventist Pastor Prodaniuk believes it will be difficult to get the draft Law adopted. "It will take time – they don't want to do it, they study the issue, study, study," he told Forum 18. "I don't condemn them, but they must do this" (see below).

The United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has noted that conscientious objection to military service comes under ICCPR Article 18 ("Freedom of thought, conscience and religion"). The OHCHR has also noted that Article 18 is "a non-derogable right .. even during times of a public emergency threatening the life of the nation" (see below).

In March, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine renewed earlier UN concern about the lack of the possibility of conducting alternative civilian service at a time of war. It has also expressed concern about violence against conscientious objectors who have been forcibly taken to military bases (see below).

Severe human rights violations in Russian-occupied Ukraine

Serious violations of freedom of religion and belief and other human rights take place within all the Ukrainian territory Russia has illegally occupied.

No alternative civilian service in wartime, many jailings

Ukraine's Constitution guarantees the right to alternative service, but only to those with religious conscientious objections to serving in the military. Article 35, Part 4 stipulates: "If the performance of military duty contradicts the religious beliefs of a citizen, the performance of this duty shall be replaced by alternative (non-military) service."

After Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Ukraine declared a state of martial law. All men between the ages of 27 (later reduced to 25) and 60 were deemed eligible for call-up in a general mobilisation and were banned from leaving the country. Ukraine's Defence Ministry insists that even the limited alternative service allowed in peacetime does not exist during wartime.

The military has allowed a few men, including Council of Churches Baptists, to serve in roles that do not violate their conscientious beliefs. Such individuals are allowed to serve in the military without swearing the military oath, without wearing a uniform and without bearing weapons. They are assigned to such tasks as cleaning, cooking or repairing vehicles. Such service is not acceptable to the majority of conscientious objectors, who will not serve in any role associated with the military.

Prosecutors have brought more than a thousand criminal cases against those who cannot serve in the military on grounds of conscience. Hundreds of these cases have reached court, with dozens of conscientious objectors jailed.

Prosecutors have mainly brought cases under Criminal Code Article 336 ("Refusing call-up for military service during mobilisation or in a special period, and for military service during call-up of reservists in a special period"). More recently, prosecutors have brought criminal cases under Articles supposed to be used only against those in the military.

On 9 March, a court in Mykolaiv Region jailed 42-year-old Jehovah's Witness conscientious objector Volodymyr Klementiev for six years. Mykolaiv Appeal Court rejected his appeal on 14 May. "To date, this is the longest prison sentence imposed on one of our brothers since the war in Ukraine began," Jehovah's Witnesses noted. The previous longest prison sentence was of five years.

On successive days in June, a court in Chernihiv Region found two Seventh-day Adventist conscientious objectors guilty. The Judges jailed Andrii Skliar and Ihor Kiktev – both in their thirties - for a combined period of 5 years and one month each.

"Meanwhile, hundreds more of our brothers await criminal prosecution, including the possibility of lengthy prison sentences," Jehovah's Witnesses noted in June. "Many of these brothers have been forcibly taken to military facilities, where they have sometimes been held for days or even months. Once there, they often face physical abuse and emotional pressure to compromise their neutral stand."

Recruitment offices have seized many men who refused to serve in the military on grounds of conscience and transferred them to military units.

Of these, at least 50 men are from Council of Churches Baptist communities. They are still being held, despite expressing a willingness to perform alternative civilian service. In addition, one man, 50-year-old Dmytro Koval, died in military detention on 21 March. When returned to his family, his body showed signs of brutal treatment.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has noted that conscientious objection to military service comes under ICCPR Article 18 ("Freedom of thought, conscience and religion") and has recognised "the right of everyone to have conscientious objection to military service as a legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion".

The OHCHR has also noted in its Conscientious Objection to Military Service guide that Article 18 is "a non-derogable right .. even during times of a public emergency threatening the life of the nation."

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has renewed earlier UN concern about the lack of the possibility of conducting alternative civilian service at a time of war. It has also expressed concern about violence against conscientious objectors who have been forcibly taken to military bases. It raised these concerns in a report to the UN Human Rights Council (A/HRC/61/61) made public on 9 March 2026.

Alternative civilian service raised with then Prime Minister

Many religious communities and civil society organisations have long expressed concern over the absence of a civilian alternative service during wartime.

The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations – which includes a wide range of Christian communities as well as Muslims and Jews – considered the issue of moves to introduce the possibility of alternative civilian service for conscientious objectors in war time at its meeting in Kyiv on 18 July 2023.

The Council noted that "representatives of confessions will be part of a government working group that will develop a draft law on the implementation of the constitutional right of citizens to alternative (non-military) service during martial law".

Leaders of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations raised the issue in a 19 October 2023 meeting with the then Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal.

"Another issue of discussion was the practical mechanism of implementing the constitutional guarantee of alternative (non-military) service for believers whose religious beliefs do not allow them to take up arms," the Council noted that day in a report of the meeting.

"Instead of criminal prosecution of such believers," the Council added, "it will be expedient to involve them in the work of strengthening the state's defence capability outside the military formations." The Council made no mention of any response from then Prime Minister Shmyhal.

"Honestly we are not happy how slow it goes"

As well as conscientious objectors and pacifists, leaders of religious communities have urged the government to resolve the problem of the lack of an alternative civilian service for conscientious objectors in wartime.

Pastor Ihor Bandura, a Deputy Chair of the Baptist Union, expressed concern about this. "It's a very important issue for us, especially for Evangelical churches," he told a meeting at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London on 29 January 2025. He stressed that while many Baptists choose to serve in the army, others do not on grounds of conscience.

Pastor Bandura said then that Baptists were working with the government and Parliament to introduce "proper legislation" to end the denial of alternative civilian service at a time of war. "We advocate for alternative service for those who hold pacifistic views," he insisted. He hoped that such a law could be adopted and "honestly we are not happy how slow it goes".

Pastor Roman Prodaniuk, head of Ukraine's Seventh-day Adventist Church, similarly hopes the lack of an alternative civilian service for conscientious objectors in wartime will be overturned. "They are citizens who are ready to defend Ukraine, some in the army without weapons, others outside the army, in a hospital or the Red Cross," he told Forum 18 on 30 June 2026. "The important thing is that they can serve in a way that is not against their conscience."

Pastor Prodaniuk raised the issue with Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko during her 29 May meeting with the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations. "She didn't make any promises," he told Forum 18.

Pastor Yuriy Kulakevych, head of the Pentecostal Union's External and Foreign Affairs Department, told Forum 18 on 1 July that the issue of introducing the possibility of alternative civilian service in wartime "should be resolved as soon as possible, to allow citizens to exercise their Constitutional rights".

Maksym Vasin, Research Director at the Institute for Religious Freedom in Kyiv, notes that the situation for conscientious objectors "deteriorated significantly" after 2015 decisions of the Supreme Court.

"Instead of being acquitted, conscientious objectors began to face imprisonment or forcible transfer to military units," Vasin told Forum 18 on 1 July. "This approach is fundamentally flawed because good soldiers cannot be made out of people who are unable to take part in combat because of their religious doctrines."

Vasin added: "That is why the government should not view alternative non-military service as a means of evading mobilisation. Rather, it should be seen as a way to involve in national defence those believers whose religious convictions do not allow them to fight with weapons or serve in any military formation."

March 2025 Venice Commission guidelines

At the request of Ukraine's Constitutional Court, the Council of Europe's Venice Commission produced an amicus curiae brief on alternative (non-military) service in Ukraine in March 2025.

This reaffirmed that "States have the positive obligation to set up a system of alternative service which must be separated from the military system, shall not be of a punitive nature and remain within reasonable time limits." It adds that "under no circumstances may a conscientious objector to military service be obliged to bear or use arms, even in self-defence of the country".

Ombudsperson "within the limits of his competence, is taking all possible measures"

Yuriy Kovbasa is Representative of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsperson) for Security and Defence Agencies. He told Forum 18 on 9 April 2025 that, following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, the Human Rights Commissioner "within the limits of his competence, is taking all possible measures to ensure the right of citizens whose military service contradicts their religious beliefs to replace it with alternative (non-military) service".

However, Kovbasa added that the law does not provide for such alternative service at a time of war and that any change can only come with a new law.

Kovbasa noted the introduction of deferment from mobilisation for clergy. He also noted "the creation in October 2024, under the chairmanship of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, of an inter-departmental working group on the regulation of issues of alternative (non-military) service by citizens of Ukraine during martial law".

May 2025 Rule of Law Roadmap identifies "strategic goal"

On 14 May 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a Rule of Law Roadmap as part of Ukraine's commitments under the European Union (EU) accession process. The Roadmap identifies priority reform areas in the fields of the judiciary, prevention of and fight against corruption, protection of fundamental rights, as well as justice, freedom and security.

In Section 3.3, which covers "freedom of thought, conscience and religion", the ⁠Rule of Law Roadmap identifies a "strategic goal": "The right to conscientious objection to military service on grounds of religious belief is ensured during martial law." The Roadmap sets a deadline of the end of June 2026 for "Development and adoption of a law on ensuring the right to undergo alternative service during martial law or a special period".

Between January and March 2026, the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) and the Defence Ministry were to review norms on conscientious objection and "countermeasures against identified interferences in the exercise of this right", in accordance with the March 2025 Venice Commission amicus curiae brief (see above).

Between April and June 2026, the DESS, Verkhovna Rada, Defence Ministry, Social Policy Ministry, Justice Ministry, Human Rights Ombudsperson and the Security Service of Ukraine were to prepare and adopt a law providing for alternative service at a time of war.

Roundtable, dialogue, recommendations

On 6 November 2025, a roundtable titled Freedom to Practice One's Religion or Beliefs in Wartime: The Right to Alternative Service was held in Kyiv. The event was co-organised by two Council of Europe projects. State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) officials also attended the roundtable.

"The event provided a platform for in-depth discussion on the protection of fundamental freedoms under conditions of armed conflict, with a particular focus on the state's obligations to ensure non-discriminatory access to alternative service for individuals whose religious or moral convictions prevent them from carrying arms," the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine noted the following day.

"Participants highlighted the need for legislative clarity, institutional mechanisms, and judicial safeguards to ensure that Ukraine's legal framework aligns with international human rights standards."

Over the following weeks, legal scholars, religious studies experts, human rights defenders and members of religious organisations – some of whom had taken part in the Council of Europe roundtable – joined an "interdisciplinary dialogue platform", titled The Constitutional Duty to Defend the Homeland and Freedom of Religion During War: The Right to Alternative Service. It held two online meetings organised by the Lviv-based Human Rights Laboratory and its head, Serhii Rabinovych, a law professor at Lviv National University.

"The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine should adopt a clear, transparent, and accessible legislative mechanism for citizens to perform alternative (non-military) service," the recommendations - signed by 21 participants on 21 November 2025 - declared. "This law shall fully implement Part Four of Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine, Articles 9 and 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, Articles 4 and 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the guidance of paragraphs 71–72 of the Venice Commission Opinion."

The Lviv recommendations added: "Alternative service shall constitute a special form of public service carried out exclusively outside the Security and Defence Forces of Ukraine, in civilian institutions (e.g., health care, social protection, education, emergency services, critical infrastructure, environmental protection). It shall be available only to persons whose beliefs completely preclude the performance of military service in any form."

The recommendations stressed that all who oppose military service on grounds of conscience should be able to access alternatives. "Eligibility must not be limited based on religious organization affiliation."

The recommendations called for legislation to "provide mechanisms allowing different forms of alternative service, depending on the nature of citizens' religious beliefs", ranging from partial to full objection to involvement in the military. "The law should provide for unarmed military service - a non-combat, state service within the Security and Defence Forces - for those whose beliefs only prohibit weapon handling."

For those who conscientiously object to all involvement with the military, the Lviv recommendations stressed that, during wartime, "conditions of service must fully respect its non-military character and civil supervision". They added: "Military personnel must have no role in supervising or controlling alternative service."

The recommendations were submitted to the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), and the Economy Ministry.

The Economy Ministry has not reacted. "It is known that since January it has been practically evading the execution of the Government's order to prepare a bill," Rabinovych told Forum 18 on 29 June. "Not a single bill has come out of the walls of this Ministry."

"The Defence Ministry does not object to the introduction of military service without weapons, but does not want to hear about alternative civilian service," Rabinovych added. The DESS "is ready to prepare only the issues of religious expertise in the future bill. There is no official coordinator for the work on the bill."

Economy Ministry's draft Law

On 28 October 2025 Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko assigned the task of preparing the draft of the new Law to introduce alternatives to military service at a time of war to the Economy, Environment and Agriculture Ministry, although the Roadmap does not include the Ministry as one of the bodies to draft the new Law.

Viktor Yelensky, the head of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), denied that the decision to assign the task of preparing the draft Law to the Economy Ministry was "strange", despite it not being listed in the Roadmap as one of the originators of the new Law. "The Economy Ministry has responsibility for exemptions from conscription, and is responsible for labour issues," he told Forum 18 on 24 June 2026.

In late 2025 or early 2026, the Economy Ministry prepared a draft Law on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts Regarding Ensuring the Right to Alternative (Non-Military) Service under Martial Law. This would amend three other Laws: the Alternative (Non-Military) Service Law, the Mobilisation and Mobilisation Training Law and the Law on the Legal Regime of Martial Law.

If adopted, the Law would appear to allow those unable to serve in the military on grounds of conscience to undertake a civilian alternative. "During martial law, alternative service is carried out at enterprises, institutions and organizations of critical infrastructure, the fuel and energy sector, the defence-industrial complex (non-lethal production), healthcare and social protection," one proposed amendment states.

However, other amendments would appear to limit alternative civilian service to those who "cannot perform military duty with the use of weapons due to their religious beliefs". International standards require alternatives to military service to be available to all who have conscientious objections to military service, not just to those who have objections related to their religious beliefs.

February 2026 Presidential Office meeting: no agreement

On 17 February 2026, the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, Iryna Vereshchuk, chaired a closed meeting of senior officials "to discuss the feasibility of introducing a mechanism for alternative (non-military) service under martial law", according to the agenda (seen by Forum 18). The meeting was set to last a little over an hour.

Officials from the Economy Ministry (which had prepared the draft Law submitted for the meeting), Defence Ministry, Army General Staff, Security Service, Justice Ministry, Human Rights Ombudsperson's Office, Military Ombudsperson's Office and State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) were among participants.

Forum 18 asked Natalia Herasymenko, an aide to Vereshchuk, on 29 June what decisions were taken on the draft Law and what progress there has been since the February meeting. She had not responded by the morning of the working day in Kyiv of 3 July.

The Economy Ministry sent a written response to Yurii Sheliazhenko of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement and the Institute of Peace and Law on 15 June (seen by Forum 18) to his request for information on the proposed new Law. It said that three possible models had emerged at the 17 February meeting:

"1. Military model: alternative service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in non-combat positions (categorical position of the Defence Ministry and the General Staff).
2. Civilian model: involving citizens in work at enterprises of strategic importance and critical infrastructure facilities (position supported by the Economy Ministry).
3. Mixed model: combining elements of civilian work with military registration and subordination (compromise positions of the DESS and others)."

"As a result of the discussion, a single agreed position on the choice of a model was not reached," the Economy Ministry added. "The meeting participants were asked to provide specific proposals for the regulatory regulation of the issue for their further processing and the formation of an agreed model." It said that as of 15 June, when it wrote to Sheliazhenko, "a final decision on conceptual approaches to the regulation of the issue raised had not been made".

Economy Ministry's draft Law "not even a draft, just a draft of a draft"

As of 2 July, no draft Law to allow for alternative civilian service for conscientious objectors during wartime has yet reached the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament), despite the end of June deadline in the Cabinet of Ministers' Roadmap.

Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) in Kyiv, told Forum 18 on 24 June that the Economy Ministry's draft Law from the beginning of 2026 "is not even a draft, just a draft of a draft".

The journalist Yehor Shumihin of Interfax-Ukraine asked Yelensky on 5 June what perspective he saw on the adoption of the Law and whether it would be in 2026 or 2027. "This largely depends on the Verkhovna Rada, but I do not think that this law will be easily adopted," Yelensky responded. "Even when it is prepared, it will undergo inter-departmental coordination and public discussion, and at each of these stages it will be expected to be hotly debated."

Yelensky expressed support for such a Law. "We have people who cannot take up arms, but are ready to serve and fulfil their duty to the state .. Alternative service should certainly be provided for such people." He added: "It can be said that the law will affect a relatively small number of people, but the state of human rights is judged precisely by the attitude towards minorities."

Forum 18 asked the Economy Ministry's Press Office in writing on 12 June for the current draft of the proposed new Law. Forum 18 also asked:
- When the Cabinet of Ministers is expected to consider and if appropriate approve the draft Law to send to parliament;
- Whether the draft Law will be in line with the Venice Commission's amicus curiae, allowing all conscientious objectors, not just those with religious objections, to undertake at a time of mobilisation/war an alternative service that is entirely outside the control of the military.
Forum 18 had received no response by the morning of the working day in Kyiv of 3 July.

Yuriy Kovbasa is Representative of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsperson) for Security and Defence Agencies. Forum 18 asked him on 20 March (re-sent on 9 June):
- What progress there is in introducing an alternative civilian service for anyone who cannot serve in the military on grounds of conscience, including at a time of war;
- What position the Office of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commissioner has taken on this issue.
Kovbasa had not responded by the morning of the working day in Kyiv of 3 July.

"Officials are playing administrative football with the draft Law"

Maksym Vasin, Research Director at the Institute for Religious Freedom in Kyiv, insists that a new Law "should establish clear procedures for alternative service outside military formations, removing the fear that conscientious objectors may be forcibly sent into military units despite their pacifist religious beliefs". He believes this is closer now, with the government consulting the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations.

Asked on 1 July whether he believes current discussions in government will resolve the issue, Pastor Yuriy Kulakevych, head of the Pentecostal Union's External and Foreign Affairs Department, told Forum 18: "We are working strongly on this. Let us double our efforts to get it done. We need international voices on this as well."

Some are sceptical that any new Law will be adopted soon. "The Roadmap is a political, not a legal document," law professor at Lviv National University Serhii Rabinovych told Forum 18. "Officials are playing administrative football with the draft Law."

Rabinovych says the Economy Ministry was reluctant to prepare the draft Law and the Defence Ministry is "categorically against" allowing conscientious objectors to opt for alternative civilian service in wartime. "There will be serious obstacles. It is very difficult to say if the draft Law will get through."

Pastor Roman Prodaniuk, head of Ukraine's Seventh-day Adventist Church, is sceptical of any speedy introduction of alternative civilian service in wartime. He believes it will be difficult to get the draft Law adopted. "It will take time – they don't want to do it, they study the issue, study, study," he told Forum 18. "I don't condemn them, but they must do this." (END)

More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in all Ukraine

More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Russian-occupied Ukraine

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