Legal Reference

About This Site

This site documents statements and actions by members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) regarding Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, which began in 2014. A number of the recorded statements and actions are highly likely to constitute criminal offences — under Ukrainian law, international law, and the law of the Russian Federation itself.

I. International Legal Framework

UN Charter, Article 2(4): Prohibition on the Use of Force

Article 2(4) of the UN Charter prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. This norm has the status of jus cogens — it is binding on all states and admits no exceptions. Russia's armed attack on Ukraine, launched in 2014 and dramatically escalated in February 2022, constitutes a gross violation of this norm.

Those who publicly justify, support, or normalise this violation contribute to undermining a foundational principle of the international legal order.

The Nuremberg Principles (1950): Crime Against Peace

The Nuremberg Tribunal of 1945–1946 called aggressive war "the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." Principles codified by the UN International Law Commission in 1950 establish:

Principle VI(a): Crimes against peace include planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, and participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing.

Principle VII: Complicity in the commission of a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity is a crime under international law.

Principle II: The fact that internal law does not impose a penalty for an act that constitutes a crime under international law does not relieve the person from responsibility under international law.

Public statements by spiritual leaders justifying aggressive war and calling on believers to participate in it may be qualified as complicity (facilitation and incitement) in a crime against peace.

Examples from documented statements:

• "This is a preventive measure against an even greater danger. Russia is forced to fight, and one should not protest." (Alexander Hakimov, 31 March 2022)
• "Krishna devotees in Russia must accept mobilisation as the will of God and their fate — not evade it, but conscientiously fulfil their military duty." (Alexander Hakimov, 1 October 2022)
• "We are inspired by what is happening here" — said on occupied Ukrainian territory in the presence of Russian armed forces. (Bhakti Rasayana Sagar Swami)

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 20

Article 20 of the ICCPR obligates all States Parties to prohibit by law:

1. Any propaganda for war.
2. Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.

The UN Human Rights Committee, in General Comment No. 11 (1983), confirmed that the prohibition of war propaganda is mandatory and must be implemented in national legislation.

Statements by spiritual leaders framing participation in an aggressive war as a religious duty constitute a form of war propaganda in violation of ICCPR Article 20. The deployment of religious authority to support military mobilisation gives such statements a particularly serious social danger.

UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 (1974): Definition of Aggression

UNGA Resolution 3314 defines aggression as "the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State." Russia's war against Ukraine meets every criterion of this definition. Publicly presenting this aggression as lawful, justified, or inevitable constitutes facilitation of a violation of international law.

II. Russian Federation Law

The paradox is that a number of ISKCON members' actions formally violate norms of Russian law itself — the very legal system in which they operated.

Article 354 of the RF Criminal Code: Public Calls for Unleashing Aggressive War

Although Russian authorities have effectively frozen enforcement of this provision against supporters of the war, the article remains formally in force and prohibits:

Part 1. Public calls for unleashing aggressive war — oral, written, via mass media or the internet — directed at an indefinite audience.

Penalty: fine up to 300,000 roubles or imprisonment up to 3 years.

Part 2. The same acts committed using mass media (including YouTube channels and online lectures).

Penalty: fine up to 500,000 roubles or imprisonment up to 5 years, with a possible ban on holding certain positions.

Alexander Hakimov's lectures calling on devotees to accept mobilisation — published on YouTube with hundreds of thousands of views — formally match the elements of Article 354, Part 2: public calls via media, justifying and normalising participation in a war that the RF Criminal Code itself formally classifies as "aggressive."

The Double Standard in Russian Law

After 2022, Russian authorities added to the Criminal Code a series of articles punishing criticism of the war (Art. 280.3 — "discrediting the army"; Art. 207.3 — "spreading false information about the army"). These were used to prosecute those who condemned the war. At the same time, Article 354 — which prohibits propaganda for aggressive war — is de facto not applied against those who support it.

This double standard reveals the political nature of Russian law enforcement. It does not, however, eliminate the legal significance of the norms themselves: Article 354 has not been repealed and remains in force.

III. Ukrainian Law

Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine

"Justification, recognition as lawful, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, glorification of its participants."

This article establishes liability for:

• justifying Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine begun in 2014, including by presenting it as an internal civil conflict;
• recognising as lawful or denying the temporary occupation of part of Ukraine's territory;
• glorifying persons who carried out the armed aggression, representatives of Russian armed formations, illegal armed groups, mercenaries, and the occupation administration.

Penalty: corrective labour for up to two years, probationary supervision for up to three years, or imprisonment for the same term.

Elements of the Offence

Justification of Armed Aggression

Involves statements or actions aimed at portraying Russia's aggression against Ukraine as positive or legitimate — through rationalisation, approval, or framing aggression as legally or morally founded.

Examples from documented statements:

• "This is a preventive measure against an even greater danger. Russia is forced to fight, and one should not protest." (Alexander Hakimov)
• "I must do this because the law is such, the time is such, the circumstances are such — I must fulfil my duty according to the current law." (Alexander Hakimov, on military mobilisation)
• "We are inspired by what is happening here." (Bhakti Rasayana Sagar Swami — about the occupation of Ukraine)

Recognition of Armed Aggression as Lawful

Involves statements or actions that recognise the legality of Russia's use of force against Ukraine.

Example: "We are currently in eastern Ukraine, which has already become part of the Russian Federation." (Bhakti Rasayana Sagar Swami)

Denial of Armed Aggression

Means refusing to acknowledge the fact of aggression or attempting to present it as an internal conflict or civil war without the involvement of an external force.

Example: Claiming that events in eastern Ukraine are exclusively an internal conflict with no Russian involvement.

Glorification of Aggression Participants

Means elevating, honouring, or assigning heroic status to individuals participating in the armed aggression against Ukraine.

Examples: "Putin is the only ruler in the world who speaks of the soul and God publicly." (Alexander Hakimov); physical presence on occupied territories and posing in front of destroyed military equipment as an expression of solidarity with the aggressor.

Visits to Occupied Territories

It has been recorded that ISKCON members illegally crossed Ukraine's state border from Russian Federation territory under the guise of "preaching" and the "Food for Life" humanitarian mission, subsequently posing publicly on Ukrainian-occupied territories, including Alchevsk, Luhansk, Donetsk, Mariupol, Berdyansk, Sievierodonetsk, and Crimea.

These actions fall under the following legal provisions:

Law of Ukraine "On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons," Art. 13

Entry into Ukraine is prohibited for persons who illegally entered temporarily occupied territory or attempted to access such territories outside official checkpoints. Such persons are entered into a database and banned from entry for three years; repeat violations result in a ten-year ban.

Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences, Arts. 204-1 and 204-2

Illegally crossing Ukraine's state border or violating the entry/exit procedures for occupied territory carries a fine or administrative detention of up to 15 days. Repeat offences result in increased penalties.

Criminal Code, Arts. 258-6 and 332-2

Crossing Ukraine's state border in the interests of the aggressor state or in support of terrorist activities is punishable by imprisonment from 4 to 12 years.