The release of OSCE SMM staff members is a prerequisite for the implementation of ceasefire monitoring

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

Individual signatures:

Kimberley Bulkley, Former OSCE SMM, USA

Tor Fredrik Moe, Norway

David Orrells, Former OSCE SMM Technical Monitoring Group Leader, UK

Grant Knoetze – Paramedic, OSCE SMM Ukraine, South Africa 

Dmitri DATCO, former OSCE SMMU monitor, Moldova

Gabriela Steinle, former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer / Patrol Group Leader, Switzerland

Anton Yermakov, former OSCE SMMU Language / Administrative Assistant, Ukraine

Lena Stoltz, former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, Sweden

Diana Cena, former OSCE SMM Monitoring Officer, Albania

Mark Pearsall, Former OSCE SMMU Patrol Group Leader, United Kingdom

Attila Kulcsár, former OSCE SMM Monitoring Officer, Hungary

Anonymous, Former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, Serbia

Berit Lindeman, Secretary General, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Norway

Mark Farrant, Former OSCE SMMU Operations Officer, United Kingdom

Johan Chytraeus, former Deputy Team Leader OSCE SMM, Sweden

Kristina Babić, Former OSCE SMMU/Media coordinator, Luhansk Monitoring Team, Croatia

Aleksandr Tigin, former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, Russian Federation

Laura Jaffrey, former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, Switzerland

Paul Fraleigh, former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, Canada

Tinatin Bezhanishvili, Former OSCE SMMU Deputy Hub Leader, Deputy Hub Ops Coordinator, Patrol Group Leader, Georgia

Arve Hansen, Senior Adviser, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Norway 

Elisabet Thorp, former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, Sweden

Yves Vervecken, Former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, Belgium

Matthew Weaver, Former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, United States

Alexandra Camberea, Former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, Romania

Viktoriia Kish, former OSCE SMMU Language Assistant, Ukraine

Oleksii Bukalov, former OSCE SMMU Language / Security Assistant

Andrii Dalskyi, former OSCE SMMU Language Assistant, Ukraine

Alison Stables, Former OSCE SMMU Deputy Team Leader, United Kingdom

Oliver Palkowitsch, Former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, Germany

Annett Gerber, Former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer LMT, Germany

Dora Chomiak, CEO Razom for Ukraine

Anna Lomakovska, former OSCE SMMU National Payroll Officer

Oksana Konstantinova, former OSCE SMMU Learning and Development Assistant, Ukraine 

Volodymyr Herasymenko, former OSCE SMMU Transport Assistant Dnipro MT, Ukraine 

Kristina Hook, Kennesaw State University 

Adylbek Kurbanov, former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, the Kyrgyz Republic

Zviadi Esebua, former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, Georgia

Shane Ahn, OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, DPH & SPH, US

Simon Tiller, former OSCE SMMU Deputy Head of Reporting and Political Analysis Unit in Kyiv, United Kingdom

Alda Malko Jarmuzek, former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer LMT, Albania

Paul Grod, President, Ukrainian World Congress, Canada

Maxence Peniguet, former OSCE SMMU, Monitoring Officer LMT, France

Katarina Lavrinenko Friis-Olsen, affiliated with the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, Norway 

Nichita Gurcov, former OSCE SMMU, Monitoring/Reporting Officer DMT/HO, Moldova

Kristoffer Tønnesen, former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, Norway

Jon Casey, former OSCE SMMU, Operations Officer – Luhansk MT and Kyiv Operations Center, United States

Daniele D’Esposito, former SMM monitoring officer in Severodonetsk, Switzerland.

Celia Alexander, former OSCE SMMU, Monitoring Officer LMT, United States 

Fabrice TURCO, former OSCE SMMU, Monitoring Officer, France

Daria Varyvod, former OSCE SMMU, Language Assistant, Ukraine

Yvette Langenhuizen, former Deputy Team Leader, Luhansk/Severodonetsk MT, The Netherlands

Neil Brown, OSCE SMMU, Paramedic, South Africa

Maddalena Dalla Mora, former OSCE SMMU Monitoring Officer, Luhansk MT, Italy

Rafal Jarmuzek, former Cherson Team Leader, Poland