A 40-year-old Ukrainian citizen has been sentenced to three years in prison for failing to comply with repeated invitations to join the armed forces, prosecutors announced Monday.

The resident of the Bustino community, near the border with Romania, testified that he was against carrying a gun and killing people, according to the prosecutor’s office in Tkaciv (west).

The verdict is not yet final.

The Constitution of Ukraine provides for the status of conscientious objection only for religious reasons. According to prosecutors, the man “did not declare that he belongs to any religious organization that requires its members not to serve in the armed forces.”

All male citizens of Ukraine between the ages of 18 and 60 were banned from leaving the country immediately after Russia’s military invaded its territory in late February 2022 and were placed at the disposal of conscription authorities, who have the power to order their conscription.

Some Ukrainians tried to buy out their tenure or fled abroad with forged documents.