A Moscow court has sentenced Buddhist leader Ilya Vasilyev to six years in prison after a retrial over a social media post expressing opposition to the invasion of Ukraine. The 52-year-old founder of Moscow Zen Centre was convicted on 28 April under Russia’s law against disseminating “knowingly false information” about the Russian Armed Forces.
Judge Andrey Kuznetsov of Moscow’s Preobrazhensky District Court also barred Vasilyev from administering websites for three years and six months. Vasilyev’s lawyer, Gevorg Aleksanyan, has lodged an initial appeal. Vasilyev remains in Moscow’s Matrosskaya Tishina prison, where he has been housed since his arrest in June 2024.
The case centers on an English-language Facebook post from 25 December 2022 concerning a Russian missile strike on Kherson, Ukraine. The post included a painting by Ukrainian-born artist Iriney Yurchuk showing a nativity scene amid the ruins of a bombed apartment block. Vasilyev has said that the post was made “solely out of religious conviction.” (Forum 18)
Prosecutors argued that the post misled readers and reflected political hatred toward the Russian authorities. Vasilyev denied the allegation, saying that his statement was rooted in Buddhist commitments to truth and compassion rather than political enmity.
“A prosecutor who doesn’t understand Zen has intervened in a conversation between Buddhists about religious topics, and is dragging the court into it,” Vasilyev told the court on 23 April. “Some people want to pressure Buddhists to fight on the side of one leader or another. But there are no soldiers’ belt buckles with the inscription ‘Buddha is with us.’” (Forum 18)
In his final statement on 27 April, Vasilyev linked his defense to Buddhist ethical practice. “When I took the Buddhist vow, I vowed to tell the truth. And when people here start saying in my name that what I say is a lie, it is, of course, a great challenge to me,” he said. “These past six months have been difficult for me. But if the court insists that I committed a crime, of course, I will continue to tell the truth. We will continue to defend ourselves and seek my release.” (Forum 18)
Vasilyev was first convicted in June 2025 and sentenced to eight years in prison, followed by a four-year ban on administering websites. Moscow City Court overturned that verdict in October 2025 on procedural grounds, finding that the lower court had improperly refused Vasilyev’s request to appoint a public defender alongside his lawyer. The retrial began in January 2026.
Public defender Anna Tugolukova argued that the prosecution’s claim of political hatred conflicted with Zen Buddhist principles. “For a mind nurtured in the Zen tradition, there is no difference between the suffering of a soldier in one army and the suffering of a soldier in another. There is simply suffering,” Tugolukova said. “Does the voice of compassion have the right to be heard in our society? Or will any call to stop violence be equated with the voice of an enemy?” (Forum 18)
The Moscow City Prosecutor’s Office and Preobrazhensky District Court did not explain why a custodial sentence was sought or imposed, or how Vasilyev was considered dangerous. Prosecutors had requested an eight-year sentence at the retrial.
The case comes amid broader pressure on religious figures and activists in Russia who express opposition to the war in Ukraine on religious grounds. Since February 2022, five people have received prison sentences and three have been fined on criminal charges connected to religiously framed opposition to the war.
Vasilyev has also reportedly been denied access to a Buddhist priest while in detention. Prison officials told his lawyer in 2025 that such visits required an agreement between the Federal Penitentiary Service and a centralized religious organization, and that no such agreement existed because of the small number of Buddhist detainees.
Buddhism has deep historical roots in Russia, particularly among communities in Buryatia, Kalmykia, and Tuva. Vasilyev’s case, however, highlights the precarious position of Buddhist and other religious voices that frame opposition to violence as a matter of conscience and spiritual discipline.
See more
RUSSIA Anti-war Moscow Buddhist leader convicted again in re-trial (Forum 18)
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