Connection e.V. – Page 2

URGENT • Unlawful Detention and Deprivation of Liberty of Yurii Sheliazhenko by the Ukrainian Police and Military Authorities

19th March 2026

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The undersigned organisations are shocked by the detention and deprivation of liberty of human rights defender Yurii Sheliazhenko, today March 19th, by the Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv. This is just weeks after a joint call to the authorities to withdraw from such persecutions of conscientious objectors and withdraw their ongoing persecution of Mr. Sheliazhenko.

Connection e.V. stands up at the UN with WRI for conscientious objectors and human rights defenders from Belarus

«Connection e.V.», in partnership with «War Resisters’ International» (WRI) delivered an oral statement in the plenary of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva during the discussion on the report presented by Ms. Karinna Moskalenko, Chair of the Group of Independent Experts on the situation of human rights in Belarus.

The representative of Belarus refused the report and Eritrea supported Belarus statement and highlighted several alleged good ongoing practices in the country, such as the complete eradication of extreme poverty .

Zaira Zafarana, international advocacy coordinator at «Connection e.V.», took the floor to present the violation of the right to conscientious objection in the country, the militarization of children, the support to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and the increasing transnational repression against objectors, human rights defenders and concerned organizations and denounced de.banking practices affecting also «Our House» (Наш дом; Belarus) and its director Olga Karatch.

PRESS RELEASE • Russian Reservist Eventually Granted Asylum in Finland — Decision Based on Military-legal and Political Risks

13th February 2026

A Russian citizen, R. (name withheld), has been granted international protection in Finland following more than three years of examination of his case — from September 2022 until November 2025.

This decision is particularly significant because, currently, it is very difficult for Russian citizens who left their country after the 2022 mobilisation announcement and refuse to participate in a war which also constitutes a violation of international law, to obtain protection in Finland. Fear of conscription alone, although the illegal practices reported also by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian federation, is often considered insufficient without additional individual risk factors.