IVANO-FRANKIVSK, Ukraine — On barely the fifth day of the war, Mykhailo Yavorsky decided to visit a local military recruiting office, not to fight the battle against the invading Russian forces., but to explain why it couldn’t. “I can’t fight, I won’t shoot,” Yavorsky, 40, told officers. “I can help you with something else.”
He said he wanted to support Ukraine according to “biblical principles.” He was sentenced to a year in prison and is one of a dozen Ukrainians seeking an alternative to military service as conscientious objectors who have been prosecuted for refusing to fight.
Although these cases are few, they raise questions about human rights in a country that until the full-scale invasion allowed “alternate service” for religious reasons. Also They shed light on the fine line between duty and principle 18 months into a bloody war.
Yavorsky is appealing his sentence and to date only one conscientious objector has served jail time. Some have received suspended sentences and some cases have yet to be resolved.
Thousands of men have fled the country to avoid taking part in the war. (In June, the State Border Guard said up to 20 men are arrested daily for trying to leave the country illegally.) Others have bribed recruiting officers to declare them unfit for duty.
The objectors insist that their positions are not betrayals of their homeland but stem from deeply held principles. Conscientious objection to military service is an internationally recognized right, enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine. But when Russia invaded the Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky instituted martial law and the right to alternate service effectively evaporated.
Eli S. McCarthy, a professor of justice and peace studies at Georgetown University in Washington, said the objection is “criticism for the commitments that Ukraine has made” with international organizations and aspirations to join the European Union.
Yavorsky, who works in real estate, called their struggles “trivial” in light of the suffering in Ukraine. The soldiers’ sacrifices are visible everywhere in Ivano-Frankivsk, his hometown. Panoramas with his photographs dot the road. The cemetery has a whole section for them—seven rows, each with 15 graves. One recent afternoon a new row was being dug.
Yavorsky said that he understands why so many of his compatriots are fighting, but that they should also understand where he stands: “I’m not willing to kill another person for a piece of Ukraine”.
What if his choice could be seen as a betrayal? “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me,” she said. “What matters to me is what God thinks”.
Conscientious objectors represent a small segment of a larger phenomenon that is taking shape. Though rarely talked about, there is fatigue around the draft. When Russia invaded, Zelensky’s declaration of martial law prohibited men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country., and Ukrainians flocked to military recruitment centers. Eighteen months later, the pool of eager recruits has dwindled.
Vitaly Alekseenko, 46, the first known jailed objector, said, “I love Ukraine, I love the people. i am a believer”.
He said that his case has to do with fundamental rights. “If it is glory for Ukraine, then glory for free Ukraine, so that my rights are respected, as it is written in the Constitution,” she said.
He claimed to have requested to serve alternatively. Instead, he was found guilty of avoiding the draft and sent to prison. Released after three months for a new trial, he now lives in a small shared room on the seventh floor of an old walk-up building. He described a neighbor who confronted him and said: “boys are fighting, they are protecting you”. He said, “I told you I don’t need to be protected.” He animatedly quotes the Scriptures. Rather than answer “evil with evil” when it comes to the invasion of Russia, he said, “it is better to sacrifice ourselves.”
Andrii Vyshnevetsky, a serving soldier, cited the same Biblical passages to explain his discharge requests for alternate duty.
“Those who refuse to take up arms and do not want to fight should be exempted from military service“, said. “A person who believes in God and who is against war will not kill, but will be cannon fodder.”
CASSANDRA VINOGRAD. THE NEW YORK TIMES
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6861570, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-08-23 22:20:07
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