Russian Christian sentenced to prison for refusing to fight in Ukraine
Vyacheslav Reznichenko with his wife and four month old child. Photo Telegram, Примеры с полей Благовестия
Eastern Europe
An Evangelical Christian must serve two years and six months in a penal colony because he did not want to fight in Ukraine.
Vyacheslav Reznichenko refused to join the Russian army and fight in Ukraine because of his religious beliefs. He tried to fight the verdict after going through five courts, Sibreal writes. Now, the court in Primorye rejects his appeal.
Reznichenko, who comes from the village of Zarubino, Eastern Russia, is married and has a child who just turned four months old, the International Union of Evangelical Churches writes on its Telegram channel.
Guilty verdict
Russia recently tightened the consequences for those who refuse to fight in the army, InVictory reports. Since the start of the mobilisation in September 2022, military courts in Russia have reported 2,930 cases of desertion. In 75 per cent of the cases, a judge had already issued a guilty verdict.
According to Russian media, the number of military personnel who must appear before a court is growing every month. Last January, there were 82 officers involved in a court case; in March, this number had grown to 378, and in July, to 522.
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