Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Ukraine: Drop the charge against Yurii Sheliazhenko

Pacifism is not a crime

(05.08.2023) The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO), War Resisters’ International (WRI), the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and Connection e.V. (Germany) strongly condemn the fact that Yurii Sheliazhenko, Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, has been formally charged by the Ukrainian government with the crime of “justification of Russian aggression” with sole “evidence” the Statement of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, adopted at the meeting on International Day of Peace 21 September 2022, entitled “Peace Agenda for Ukraine and the World”. What is more, the statement explicitly condemns Russian aggression (https://worldbeyondwar.org/peace-agenda-for-ukraine-and-the-world/).

Lassen Sie alle Anklagen gegen Ruslan Kotsaba fallen

(19.07.2022) In der Ukraine wird am Dienstag, den 19. Juli 2022, ein Prozess gegen den ukrainischen Journalisten, Pazifisten und Kriegsdienstverweigerer Ruslan Kostaba stattfinden, nur weil er öffentlich seine pazifistischen Ansichten geäußert hat.

Solidarity with the Ukrainian journalist and conscientious objector Ruslan Kotsaba

Brutally assaulted by right-wing radicals

(28.06.2021) On 25 June 2021 the President of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement Ruslan Kotsaba was attacked by a neo-Nazi gang at the Ivano-Frankivsk railway station. Later he underwent surgery to save his sight due to a burn in his retina with the chemical brilliant green or "zelenka". The doctors diagnosed a corneal burn on one eye and he is now undergoing ophthalmological treatment. The attack is likely to be related to the court hearing against Ruslan Kotsaba scheduled for Tuesday, June 29.

EBCO calls for the dropping of all charges against Ruslan Kotsaba

Open Letter

(07.04.2021) To Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine

Dear Prosecutor General,

On behalf of the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection, I am writing to you to call for the immediate and unconditional end of the criminal prosecution against Ukrainian journalist, pacifist and conscientious objector Ruslan Kotsaba, simply because he publicly expressed his pacifist views.