Meeting with Russian and Ukrainian Conscientious Objectors
Event Date: 9th December 2025
Location: Online, 6pm
Please join us for this rare and valuable opportunity to speak with both Russian and Ukrainian conscientious objectors (COs), as well as campaigners from across Europe supporting their right to refuse to kill.
As the war in Ukraine rages on, hundreds of thousands of people from both Russia and Ukraine are refusing to fight. It is vital that we, in the UK, listen to their stories and support their resistance.
With speakers including:
- Mikheil Elizbarashvili - peace campaigner from Georgia, working for the Peace and Service Network
- Juergen Menzel - peace campaigner from Germany, working at AFPB Germany
- Russian and Ukrainian conscientious objectors - We will hear from several COs who have managed to escape Russia and Ukraine (names withheld for their security)
After hearing from them, there will be a chance to ask questions and discuss what we can do in the UK to support their struggles.
How to join online
Please register in advance for the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/AAMm_lCdSuKne7eRHM-j6Q
How to join in person
If you’re London, come along to the PPU office (directions below) where we will join the speakers online. Come any time from 5.30pm for a 6pm start. After the event, we’ll host an informal gathering with other PPU members and supporters in the office – please do stay on for this if you’re able!
Please note, all the speakers will be online, not in person.
There’s no need to register for attending in person – but it’d be helpful if you could reply to this email ([email protected]), so we can gauge numbers.
PPU office address – Peace Pledge Union, 1 Peace Passage, London, N7 0BT.
Look out for an alleyway (Peace Passage) to the right of Brecknock Dental. Ring the buzzer at the gate.
This event is organised by members of the UK organising group for International Conscientious Objectors’ Day: Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, Conscience: Taxes For Peace Not War, Fellowship of Reconciliation, ForcesWatch, Movement for the Abolition of War, Network for Peace, Pax Christi, Peace & Justice (Scotland), Peace Pledge Union, Quakers in Britain, The Right to Refuse to Kill Group, War Resisters’ International and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Please support our work
The PPU’s work is made possible only with the support of people like you, as the PPU is almost entirely funded by our members and supporters. This support is crucial for sustaining our year-round campaigning – it enables us to continue challenging war and militarism, and to promote peace and active nonviolence.
A strong and distinctive pacifist voice within UK civic life is crucial. Recent years have seen a massive proliferation of militarist and pro-war rhetoric within UK public discourse. In the midst of this wave of war and militarism, it is vital the PPU builds up its capacity to resist – we are very grateful to all those who support our work and join us in this struggle.