In Russia, a pastor was sentenced to four years in prison for an “anti-war” sermon.
In the Moscow region, Pentecostal pastor Nikolai Romanyuk was sentenced to four years in a general regime colony for preaching that the war against Ukraine was “not our war.” After serving his sentence, he will also be banned from administering any websites for three years.
This was reported by Evangelical Focus.
“I do not renounce my words”
The 63-year-old pastor Romanyuk became the first person to be convicted under the article on “public calls for actions against the security of the Russian Federation.”
In his final speech in court on September 2, he confirmed:
“Yes, I gave a sermon in which I touched on the topics of war and forced killings. I expressed my personal position as a clergyman. This is my attitude towards the deprivation of human life. And I do not renounce my sermon.”
Romanyuk emphasized that he never called for obstructing the work of military commissariats or evading mobilization. According to him, in the three years since that sermon, no one from his community has evaded service.
His words were confirmed by other witnesses. Two parishioners, including an army lieutenant colonel and an employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, testified that the pastor never called on them to leave the service.
“A fabricated case”
The pastor’s daughter, Svetlana Zhukova, said:
“This case is fabricated. My father was convicted for his opinion, for his position. No harm was done to anyone. This is punishment for his conscience.”
Lawyer Anatoly Pchelintsev called the sentence “unjustifiably harsh and unfair.”
The pastor plans to appeal the sentence in the Moscow Regional Court, but his daughter admitted: “We all understand perfectly well that there will be no significant changes.”
The minister is currently being held in a detention center in Noginsk, where he has spent more than ten months since his arrest in October 2024.
Persecution of believers for anti-war stance
According to Forum 18, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, at least four people have received prison sentences and three have been fined heavily for opposing the war on religious grounds. Three others who left Russia have been placed on a federal wanted list.
At the same time, internet censorship is intensifying in Russia: websites of religious communities, resources publishing anti-war material from a Christian perspective, Ukrainian religious portals, as well as media and NGOs covering issues of religious freedom are being blocked.
This case confirms once again that there is no freedom of religion in Russia. Those who are guided by the Gospel and remind others of the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” are severely punished. Christian conscience becomes a “crime” in a state that hides behind Orthodox rhetoric but in reality wages war against the truth.
Pastor Romanyuk’s words are a testimony of faithfulness to God, even when the price for truth is prison.
