Believer from Kalach-on-Don challenged in court forced consignment to military service

Due to religious beliefs, at the military commissariat (registration and enlistment office), Anton Kuznetsov from the town of Kalach-on-Don fought for his right to alternative civilian service but was forcibly sent to a military unit. The believer challenged in court the actions of the military commissar, who refused to take his convictions into account. The right to alternative service is enshrined in the Russian Constitution, lawyers have recalled.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that amid the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine, the demand for alternative civilian service instead of the military one has grown in the regions of Southern Russia. Human rights defenders assert that a refusal to participate in hostilities, dictated by one's pacifist or religious beliefs, is the constitutional right of any Russian citizen.

Anton Kuznetsov said that his faith and beliefs prevent him from military service by conscription. "I can't take up arms and an oath for my religious beliefs. Therefore, I sought to replace the conscripted military service for an alternative civilian one. But the military commissariat refused to take my rights, freedoms, and beliefs into account," Anton has explained.

The believer said that he dedicated himself to God and was baptized at the age of 10 and began "following the commitments that the Lord laid down in the Bible." One of them is not to take up arms, not to swear allegiance to any state and not to kill. Anton defended these beliefs at the commissariat. However, in December 2022, under the pretext of a medical examination, he was forcibly sent to a military unit, where he was forced to put on a military uniform and start serving. At the same time, according to Anton, he met understanding from the command of the unit; so that he was allowed not to participate in combat training and was mainly involved in chores.

Anton's parents are worried about their son's health. According to his mother, he suffers from a number of chronic diseases that require a thorough medical examination.

When Anton came to the conscription centre, he was forcibly kept there, said Sergey Semushin, an advocate.

According to Ivan Ivanov, a lawyer, according to the Constitution, a person who has pacifist and pacifist-religious convictions, does not have to prove the existence thereof.

Sergey Krivenko, the director of the "Citizen. Army. Law"* human rights group, said earlier that the Constitution of the Russian Federation does not specify the beliefs that allow one to ask for the replacement of military service with an alternative one.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.