PRESS RELEASE • IDK Demands Immediate Release of Ukrainian Conscientious Objector Yurii Sheliazhenko

20th March 2026

«International of Conscientious Objectors» (Internationale der Kriegsdienstgegnerinnen, IDK; Germany) demands the immediate release of Ukrainian human rights defender and pacifist Yurii Sheliazhenko, who was detained in Kyiv on March 19, 2026.

According to available information, Sheliazhenko was detained without clear legal justification and in defiance of his rights as an accused person. His arrest is believed to be directly linked to his publicly declared refusal to perform military service in the Ukrainian army.

Sheliazhenko had already publicly committed to refusing any form of military service as early as 1998. He is the Executive Secretary of the «Ukrainian Pacifist Movement» (Український Рух Пацифістів), a section of «War Resisters’ International» (WRI), and a board member of the «European Bureau for Conscientious Objection» (EBCO). Recently, he had repeatedly protested against the forced recruitment of young people in Ukraine, which in some cases reportedly led to torture and deaths in recruitment centers.

We strongly urge the Ukrainian authorities to release Yurii Sheliazhenko immediately and to cease all measures of forced recruitment.

We reiterate our appeal to the international community to take all appropriate measures to ensure that human rights defenders and peace activists are not criminalized for their commitment to peace and non-violence. Furthermore, we demand that the right to conscientious objection be fully respected by all states in accordance with international standards, and that conscientious objectors be granted the necessary protection from persecution in their country of origin, including the granting of asylum.

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Keywords:    ⇒ Ukraine   ⇒ Yurii Sheliazhenko