The police of Ivano-Frankivsk took into custody 46-year-old Christian Vitaly Alekseenko, who refused military service for reasons of conscience. He began serving his sentence at the age of one, writes Forum 18 Human Rights Center.

Protestant Alekseenko became the first conscientious objector to military service who was imprisoned by the Ukrainian authorities. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, courts awarded at least six other conscientious objectors to suspended prison terms.

At the end of February, the convicted Alekseenko was first taken to a clinic for a medical examination. Then he was taken to the detention center of Ivano-Frankivsk, after which he will be taken to prison.