A 63-year-old Russian pastor has been sentenced to four years in a prison labour camp after delivering a sermon opposing Moscow’s war in Ukraine, according to a Sept. 5 report from International Christian Concern. On Sept. 3, Pastor Nikolay Romanyuk was found guilty of making “public calls to implement activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation,” Forum 18 reported. Romanyuk delivered the sermon in September 2022, a week after Russia announced a partial mobilization of its forces. Speaking at the Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church in a Moscow suburb, he told his congregation that believers could not participate in war. “Find me in the Old Testament even a hint that we could somehow participate,” he said from the pulpit. “It was written in our doctrine that we are pacifists and cannot participate in this. It is our right to profess this on the basis of Holy Scripture.” In his final court statement, Romanyuk stood by his words. “Yes, I gave a sermon in which I touched on military, albeit forced, murder. I do not retract what I said,” he told the court. “This is my personal attitude as a clergyman. I do not retract my sermon.” The pastor’s daughter, Svetlana Zhukova, called the case “completely fabricated” in a post on social media. “Imagine, Dad was convicted for his opinion, his position. There is no crime. Not a single person suffered from his actions,” she wrote. Romanyuk suffers from several chronic health conditions, including hypertension and cerebrovascular disease, and requires life-sustaining medication, according to Forum 18. The Christian persecution watchdog also claims the pastor was injured during interrogation and has lost a significant amount of weight while in captivity. When asked about the sentence, a court spokeswoman said judges are not required to explain their decisions outside of procedural law.