Guest
Статья для англоговорящих. Article for English speakers: I, Kirill Berestovoy, born in 1988, was born in Donetsk. Now I am a temporarily displaced person (TDP) in Khmelnitsky. To date, I was a member of a Christian organization that does volunteer work in the east of Ukraine, in Khmelnitsky and throughout the country. This organization helps orphans and widows with food kits, displaced people with clothes and food. Also in the east it assists the Armed Forces of Ukraine with medicines, candles, trench candles, sleeping bags and hygiene products. We have helped and continue to help. I am a believer, from a fifth-generation believing family. I remember as far back as my great-grandfather when we were in church together. I sang in the choir, received water baptism and joined the church in 2007. I confess Jesus Christ as my Lord and have a deep faith, which I want to affirm in this video. I do not refuse to serve, but in my case service in my religious beliefs should not be military, but alternative. I came to the territorial manning center (TCC) voluntarily to provide documents from the church, a certificate from the union of churches where I am and a certificate from the Christian organization where I was a social work manager. However, TCC did not accept these documents and did not release me from TCC. This happened on July 1, 2024. I was held until the evening, transported repeatedly at night through Khmelnytskyi, and then sent to a landfill in Transcarpathia. They brought me at night and registered me in the A3 unit. I came with my documents to the tent where the registration was taking place and presented my documents and certificates confirming that I was a believer and had the right to replace military service with alternative service. However, they laughed at me and said, “It's okay, you will serve with us. I had to sign various documents, but I refused all the signatures. At one of the stations in this tent, where it was dark, around 23:00, I was grabbed by the neck by one commander and taken outside where it was completely dark. I have poor eyesight, eye problems, need retinal treatment, also have heart problems. The commander was hitting me on my head and in the heart area. I asked him to stop, but he continued to do so for half an hour. Despite this, I stood my ground and refused to do anything. When I was transported to the unit on the morning of the 3rd, I was not fed the whole time. In the unit I refused food, pay, and basic training. I demanded that my papers be accepted. My documents were accepted at the internal headquarters of my unit, but they never reached the main headquarters. No decisions were made, and the lawyer did not respond to my applications for a change of service to non-military service. Today it is already twenty-four hours since I announced my protest by hunger strike. I have announced it at headquarters here in the unit, as well as at the prosecutor's office, the WHD, the DBI, and the police. I have already called an ambulance several times due to deteriorating health. I am being persecuted here because of my religious beliefs (Article 127 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). I ask everyone who can to support me and spread this video to make more people aware of what is happening. Perhaps someone can help, including journalists. Thank you all very much. May God bless everyone. Amen.
