{"id":48525,"date":"2025-07-01T12:51:38","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T09:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-nikolaya-romanyuka\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T17:17:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T14:17:41","slug":"my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-nikolaya-romanyuka","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-nikolaya-romanyuka\/","title":{"rendered":"Nikolai Romanyuk is a political prisoner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A pastor from Moscow Oblast has been sentenced to 4 years in a penal colony for an anti-war sermon<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018Political Prisoners. Memorial\u2019 human rights project, in accordance with<\/strong> international standards<\/strong><\/a>, considers Nikolai Romanyuk a political prisoner. Romanyuk was convicted on a charge of \u2018making calls to engage in activity directed against the security of the state\u2019 for an anti-war sermon. His criminal prosecution violated his rights to freedom of expression and fair trial. We demand the immediate release of Nikolai Romanyuk and that all criminal charges against him be dropped.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What were the charges against Nikolai Romanyuk?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nikolai Romanyuk is the senior pastor of the Church of the Holy Trinity, a Pentecostal church, and a father of nine children. On 25 September 2022, he gave a sermon in which he condemned participation in the war and urged his congregation not to take part in military action, comparing involvement in the war to sinful temptation. The sermon was filmed and posted on the church\u2019s YouTube channel, though it was later deleted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 18 October 2024, Romanyuk\u2019s home was searched, and the pastor himself was detained with demonstrative brutality. During the search, his children were taken outside and forced to lie face down on the ground and remain in that position for about 12 hours. Romanyuk was charged with making public calls to engage in activity directed against the security of the Russian Federation (Article 280.4, Part 2, of the Russian Criminal Code).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 20 October 2024, Romanyuk was remanded in custody. Despite his advanced age and health issues, the court repeatedly refused to transfer him to house arrest. According to his daughter, Romanyuk rapidly lost weight, suffers from deteriorating eyesight and hearing, and may have suffered a mild stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 3 September 2025 Nikolai Romanyuk was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do we consider Romanyuk a political prisoner?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nikolai Romanyuk\u2019s criminal prosecution is intended to suppress freedom of conscience and intimidate opponents of Russia\u2019s war of aggression and is politically motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extremely vague wording of the offence with which he has been charged – \u2018making calls to engage in activity directed against the security of the state\u2019 \u2013 facilitates arbitrary application of the law, and in practice, prosecution for virtually any public statements about government actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, even in such a vague form, the charge in question provides for prosecution for \u2018calls to engage in criminal activity,\u2019 whereas Romanyuk in his sermon explicitly stated that refusal to serve in the military is possible under the law. Romanyuk said: \u2018Our doctrine sets out that we are pacifists and cannot take part in this. […] It is our right to profess this, based on the Holy Scriptures. We do not bless those who go there, or those taken there by force. We do not bless them, but we pray that they will be delivered from that place. There are various lawful ways of doing this.\u2019 This makes his prosecution particularly absurd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romanyuk\u2019s sermon did not pose a threat to society. On the contrary, it was aimed at saving human lives. In it, he expressed his pacifist views and appealed to the right to alternative civilian service, in full compliance with the law and international human rights standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A detailed description of Nikolai Romanyuk\u2019s case and of our position is available on our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognition of an individual as a political prisoner does not imply the \u2018Political Prisoners. Memorial\u2019 human rights project agrees with, or approves, their views, statements, or actions<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can you help?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can write to Nikolai Romanyuk at the following address:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RU: 142400, \u041c\u043e\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f \u043e\u0431\u043b\u0430\u0441\u0442\u044c, \u0433. \u041d\u043e\u0433\u0438\u043d\u0441\u043a, \u0443\u043b. 1-\u044f \u0420\u0435\u0432\u0441\u043e\u0431\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0439, \u0434. 17, \u0424\u041a\u0423 \u0421\u0418\u0417\u041e-11 \u0423\u0424\u0421\u0418\u041d \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0438 \u043f\u043e \u041c\u043e\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0439 \u043e\u0431\u043b\u0430\u0441\u0442\u0438, \u0420\u043e\u043c\u0430\u043d\u044e\u043a\u0443 \u041d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0430\u044e \u041d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0430\u0435\u0432\u0438\u0447\u0443 1962 \u0433. \u0440.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EN: Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanyuk (born 1962), Remand Prison No. 11, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Moscow region, 17 1st Revsobrany Street, Noginsk, Moscow Oblast, 142400, Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also send an email using F-Pismo<\/a> (for payment with Russian bank cards), PrisonMail<\/a> (for payment with other bank cards), ZT<\/a> (for payment with all bank cards), OVD-Info<\/a> and Memorial-France<\/a> (free of charge).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please note that letters in languages other than Russian are highly unlikely to reach the intended recipient.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can donate<\/a> to help all political prisoners in Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-48525","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","regions-moscow-oblast","news-type-nashi-novosti-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNikolai Romanyuk is a political prisoner - Political prisoners support. Memorial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A pastor from Moscow Oblast has been sentenced to 4 years in a penal colony for an anti-war sermon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-nikolaya-romanyuka\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nikolai Romanyuk is a political prisoner - Political prisoners support. 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