Forum 18 News Service

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Forum 18 News Service

Monitoring freedom of belief violations Central Asia, Russia, S. Caucasus, Belarus, Occupied Ukraine

26/08/2026

UKRAINE: Recruitment Office in Dnipro seized 40yo Pentecostal conscientious objector Yevhen Nabraklo 1 December 2025, he died 1 January 2026, allegedly of "acute purulent bacterial meningitis". "We don't know how he died – they can write whatever they like on the death certificate," says relative

On 1 January, one month after masked Recruitment Office officials seized him, 40-year-old Pentecostal conscientious objector Yevhen Nabraklo died in a Rivne hospital, allegedly of "acute purulent bacterial meningitis". "He was in a terrible state when we saw the body in the morgue. We don't know how...

18/08/2026

BELARUS: Criminal cases on unknown charges opened against at least 2 exiled religious freedom defenders in 2026 - Sergiy Melyanets, who prayerfully supported those on trial for political reasons - + Natallia Vasilevich, moderator of Christian Vision

Police launched criminal cases against two more religious freedom defenders who live outside Belarus: Sergiy Melyanets in January, and Natallia Vasilevich in April. Protestant preacher Melyanets attended court to pray for those on trial until he too was arrested and given short-term detention. Ortho...

13/08/2026

UZBEKISTAN: Another Samarkand Shia Muslim, 22yo Sunnatillo Akparov, faces prosecution for posts on Shia Telegram channel, 5 to 8 yrs in prison if convicted

In late June, amid a crackdown on Shia Muslims in Samarkand, Police arrested the 22-year-old owner of a Shia-related Telegram channel Sunnatillo Akparov. They accuse him of posting marthiyas (Shia musical lamentations) that "encouraged the activity and teachings of various [unspecified] ideological....

03/08/2026

ARMENIA: Head of Armenian Church Catholicos Karekin + 6 bishops on criminal trial from 7 August for refusing to reinstate dismissed bishop in defiance of court order

The criminal trial of seven senior bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church, including its leader Catholicos Karekin, is due to begin at Armavir Region First Instance Court on the afternoon of 7 August. They face up to two years' imprisonment for "failing to execute a judicial act or obstructing its...

28/07/2026

RUSSIA: 3 Pentecostals from Udmurtiya among the many conscientious objectors refused alternative civilian service who fail to overturn the refusals in court

Three Pentecostal conscientious objectors in Udmurtiya failed to overturn Conscription Commissions' rejections of their applications for alternative civilian service. The court agreed with the Military Commissariat in each case that they had "failed to substantiate" their conscientious views. "No ma...

27/07/2026

RUSSIA: Conscription Commissions increasingly reject applications from young men to do alternative civilian service in place of military service. "Conscription Commissions rarely provide justifications for their decisions," Call to Conscience laments

Although the number of young men doing alternative civilian service rather than military service appears to be rising, so too is the number of rejected applications. Rejections often come despite applicants demonstrating to the military authorities that they hold beliefs which preclude participation...

24/07/2026

OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Baptist pastor Vladimir Rytikov has lived in Krasnodon for 66 years, has wife, children, grandchildren there, has led church since 1990, now Russian FSB, Migration Service + court want to expel him as "threat to security"

After 66 years' residence in Krasnodon (now in Russian-occupied Luhansk Region), Council of Churches Baptist Pastor Vladimir Rytikov faces deportation from Russian-occupied Ukraine and Russia if his last-ditch appeal fails. The Russian FSB brands him a "threat to security", apparently for leading hi...

16/07/2026

BELARUS: Regime's chief religious affairs official Aleksandr Rumak refused bishops' requests for at least a dozen Polish Catholic priests to be allowed to continue their religious service in Belarus since January

Since January, the regime's chief religious affairs official Aleksandr Rumak has refused bishops' requests for at least a dozen Polish Catholic priests to be allowed to continue their religious service in the country. Most had served for several decades, one - Fr Marian Szerszeń - for 36 years. Arc...

10/07/2026

UKRAINE: With no alternative civilian service in wartime, prosecutors have brought 1,000+ criminal cases against conscientious objectors, about 500 have reached court; at least 24 men jailed, 7 awaiting appeal, plus 21 in pre-trial detention, plus 100s on military bases: listed here

With no alternative civilian service available in wartime, prosecutors have launched more than 1,000 criminal cases against conscientious objectors, with about 500 cases already sent to court. In cases known to Forum 18 (listed here), 24 conscientious objectors are in jail serving sentences, with a....

03/07/2026

UKRAINE: Law to introduce alternative civilian service in wartime for conscientious objectors fails to be adopted by June deadline set in Cabinet of Ministers' Roadmap for reforms; Officials "playing administrative football with the draft Law," says law professor Serhii Rabinovych

The Cabinet of Ministers' Roadmap for reforms, part of Ukraine's commitments under the EU accession process, set the end of June for adopting a law to introduce alternative civilian service in wartime. No draft Law has yet reached parliament. The Economy Ministry prepared a draft, but the Defence Mi...

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