While international leaders discuss the possibility of deploying a new monitoring mission in Ukraine, three members of the previous OSCE mission remain behind bars, convicted for carrying out their mandate. We stress that the issue of their release must remain central to all discussions on future security architecture and monitoring mechanisms.
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine was deployed in 2014 as a civilian, unarmed mission mandated by all OSCE participating States, including the Russian Federation. Its staff documented the security situation, recorded ceasefire violations, facilitated dialogue and prepared reports for the international community. They operated publicly and in accordance with international law.
In 2022, three staff members of the OSCE SMM – Dmytro Shabanov, Maksym Petrov and Vadym Golda – were detained in the temporarily occupied territories of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, despite their international immunity and security guarantees. After being held in detention without proper access to legal assistance and communication with their families, and without being guaranteed the right to a fair trial, they were convicted on fabricated charges of “espionage” and “high treason”: Shabanov and Petrov were sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment with subsequent deportation to the Russian Federation, and Golda was sentenced to 14 years in a strict regime penal colony.
The continued detention and persecution of international mission staff in connection with the performance of their direct duties undermines the very idea of ceasefire monitoring. Without real guarantees of security and respect for the immunities of international monitors, any mechanism becomes vulnerable to pressure, intimidation and selective access. This makes comprehensive verification of violations impossible, creates space for manipulation, and deprives the parties and the international community of a reliable instrument for deterrence and de-escalation.
The issue of introducing monitoring of a possible ceasefire in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine is increasingly being discussed at the highest political level. As early as 2026, the OSCE announced its readiness to participate in monitoring during the visit of the Swiss Foreign Minister and the OSCE Secretary General to Kyiv and Moscow. Statements and comments by representatives of Ukraine and the Coalition of the Willing mentioned the intention to introduce monitoring with the active participation and/or leading role of the United States.
However, when agreeing on a new presence, the international community must answer the question: can it guarantee the safety of those it deploys to the conflict zone if the staff members of the previous mission remain in unlawful detention?
Russia uses monitors for political purposes, subjects them to torture and inhuman treatment, exerts pressure on them and denies them adequate conditions of detention. In 2025 alone, Shabanov and Petrov were transferred from a penal colony in the Luhansk region to remote regions of Russia – Omsk and Chelyabinsk, respectively. This happened after last year’s visit by the OSCE Secretary General to the Russian Federation – Shabanov was transferred the same month, in March.
Even the very intensification of negotiations on the design of ceasefire monitoring increases the risk of instrumentalisation and deterioration of the situation of OSCE staff on the part of Russia.
The release of Shabanov, Petrov and Golda is a necessary precondition and a test of the real possibility of agreeing and implementing ceasefire monitoring, and the Russian Federation’s willingness to respect this regime. It is also a moral obligation of the countries on which the lives and safety of OSCE staff and potential monitors of the future mechanism already depend.
We call upon Ukraine, the United States, the countries participating in the Coalition of the Willing, the participating States of the OSCE, Switzerland as the chairing country, and the OSCE Secretary General to:
- Consistently and as a matter of priority, raise the issue of the immediate and unconditional release of Dmytro Shabanov, Maksym Petrov and Vadym Golda within the framework of the negotiation process on the introduction of an international monitoring mechanism, as well as in all other relevant international forums, and to use all available diplomatic and legal instruments to secure their swift release.
- Ensure compliance with the principle of non-deterioration of the health and conditions of detention of OSCE staff, and guarantee regular monitoring of their condition, particularly in the context of negotiations on the introduction of a monitoring mechanism.
- Prevent any decisions or arrangements that could instrumentalise OSCE staff members for the political purposes of the Russian Federation and/or deprive them of their right to an effective remedy and access to justice for the gravest crimes committed against them.
We call upon the Russian Federation to:
- Immediately release Dmytro Shabanov, Maksym Petrov and Vadym Golda, annul the fabricated convictions and ensure their safe return.
Signatory NGOs:
Human Rights Centre ZMINA, Ukraine
Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group, Ukraine
Austausch e.V. – For a European Civil Society, Germany
Center for Civil Liberties, Ukraine
Crimean Human Rights Group, Ukraine
Educational Human Rights House – Chernihiv, Ukraine
HRM “Bir Duino-Kyrgyzstan”, Kyrgyzstan
Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Norway
Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor, Armenia
Media Initiative for Human Rights, Ukraine
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia
NGO “CRIMEA SOS”, Ukraine
NGO “Crimean Process”, Ukraine
Charitable Foundation “Principle of Hope”, Ukraine
Crude Accountability, USA
Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, Kazakhstan
Public Association “Dignity”, Kazakhstan
Kharkiv Regional Foundation “Public Alternative”, Ukraine
Netherlands Helsinki Committee, the Netherlands
Truth Hounds, Ukraine
“Political Prisoners Support. Memorial” Human Rights Project
Human Rights Center “Viasna”, Belarus
Macedonian Helsinki Committee, North Macedonia
Freedom Files, Poland
Human Rights Center, Georgia
Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights YUCOM, Serbia
NGO “Social Action Centre”, Ukraine