A court in Moscow has sentenced Russian Buddhist leader and Soto Zen practitioner Ilya Vasilyev to eight years in prison for a 2022 Facebook post opposing Russia’s military actions in Ukraine. The 25 June ruling marks the longest known prison term given to a Russian citizen on religious grounds for publicly opposing the war. He is the second well-known Buddhist leader to voice opposition to the war, after Kalmykia’s most senior lama, Telo Tulku Rinpoche, spoke out against the war and subsequently left Russia.*
Vasilyev, a 50-year-old computer programmer and director of Moscow Zen Centre, was convicted for allegedly disseminating “knowingly false information” about the Russian Armed Forces. The court cited a December 2022 post on Facebook in which Vasilyev condemned the bombing of Kherson, where his father’s family once lived, and included a painting by Ukrainian-born artist Iriney Yurchuk of a nativity scene amid ruins.
In court, Vasilyev maintained that his statements were motivated purely by his religious beliefs as a Buddhist. “From the standpoint of Buddhism, it is bad when people die, especially a violent death, and it is good when people are helped to survive, when a truce is declared,” he testified, adding that his message was “a call for peace.” (Forum18)
Born in 1973, Vasilyev had been preparing for ordination in the Soto Zen tradition, and his teachings at Moscow Zen Centre have drawn a dedicated community since he became the director in 2010.
In his closing statements in court, Vasilyev stated that after 26 years of meditation, feelings such as hatred or hostility no longer served as motivations in his life. “To impute a motive of hatred or hostility to a practising Buddhist is like claiming that a newspaper got wet in a fire,” he said. (Forum18)
Vasilyev’s lawyer, Gevorg Aleksanyan, said the sentence would be appealed: “We called for the voice of reason, but the judge heard only the voice of the prosecutor’s office.” (Forum18)
The court has also denied Vasilyev’s repeated requests for access to a Buddhist priest while in detention, a decision that has drawn criticism from religious freedom advocates. “The administration of the pre-trial detention centre will let the priest in if the court gives permission,” Aleksanyan noted, citing four separate denied applications. No explanation has been offered by either the court or prison officials. (Forum18)
Since June 2024, Vasilyev has been held at Moscow’s Matrosskaya Tishina prison, where he has continued to meditate, read religious texts, and maintain correspondence with fellow Buddhists. Vasilyev reported positive interactions with fellow inmates, including a Muslim cellmate with whom he shared early morning spiritual practices.
His conviction is the latest in a series of cases targeting religious figures who publicly oppose Russia’s war in Ukraine. Protestant pastor Nikolay Romanyuk, 62, is due to stand trial in mid-July for a sermon in which he preached that Christians should not fight in Ukraine, citing scriptural teachings. Another religious figure, Eduard Charov, an independent Christian preacher who runs a homeless shelter in Sverdlovsk Region, is on trial for repeat “discreditation” of the armed forces and alleged “public justification of terrorism” via social media. (Forum18)
Vasilyev’s case has drawn support from Buddhist communities in Russia and abroad. Zen priest Ingen Breen, who prepared Vasilyev for ordination, described him as “a person who values truth, peace, and the well-being of all people.” (Forum18) A petition for his release was signed by 66 Buddhists, and the Memorial Human Rights Centre declared him a political prisoner.
Despite the sentence, Vasilyev remains committed to his path. “If personal safety, and not religion,” had been his priority, he would have left, he told Russian media. (Eurasia Review) His case underscores the growing challenges faced by religious minorities and peace advocates in Russia, where even nonviolent expressions of conscience may now carry severe legal consequences.
The UK-based nonprofit Rights in Russia has invited concerned global citizens to write letters of support to Vasiliev and offered to translate letters into Russian.
* Telo Tulku Rinpoche, Supreme Lama in Russian Republic of Kalmykia, Condemns War (BDG)
See more
RUSSIA: Buddhist leader given longest known anti-war jail term (Forum18)
Russia: Buddhist Leader Given Longest Known Anti-War Jail Term – Analysis (Eurasia Review)
Buddhist leader given longest known anti-war jail term in Russia (European Federation for Freedom of Belief)
Write to Russia: Ilya Vasiliev – in custody for Facebook posts about Russian war crimes (Rights in Russia)
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