OSCE Current and Former Staff Members’ Joint Letter For the Release of Dmytro Shabanov, Maksym Petrov, and Vadym Golda
We, undersigned former and current staff members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), in particular those who served with the Special Monitoring Mission OSCE to Ukraine (OSCE SMMU hereafter), as well those currently working for the OSCE across the world, are making this appeal with deep concern and a sense of urgency. We call on the OSCE Secretariat, Participating States, and the PA Special Representative on Political Prisoners to take immediate and decisive action regarding the continued arbitrary detention and unlawful prosecution by the Russian Federation of our Ukrainian national staff members – Dmytro Shabanov, Maksym Petrov and Vadym Golda – from 2022 and to this day.
Our colleagues served for the OSCE SMMU with integrity, professionalism, and unwavering commitment under the OSCE mandate – a mandate agreed upon by all participating States, including the Russian Federation. As part of the OSCE SMMU, they contributed daily to conflict prevention, civilian protection, and the pursuit of peace and security through dialogue and impartial work. Their work was fundamental to upholding the OSCE’s values, especially in times of unprecedented crisis.
We recall that the OSCE SMMU personnel, both international and national staff, operated with explicit understanding and guarantees of functional immunity under OSCE’s international status. These immunities are not privileges, they are safeguards that ensure international missions can carry out their duties independently, without fear of retaliation, coercion, or persecution.
The detention and prosecution of our Ukrainian colleagues is a blatant violation of these immunities. It sets a dangerous precedent that threatens not only the integrity and safety of OSCE personnel but also the broader principles of international cooperation, rule of law, and civilian protection in conflict settings. It puts at risk current and future international monitors, peacebuilders, and diplomats around the world.
We acknowledge and welcome statements and steps taken by OSCE representatives and various participating States. However, we strongly urge more robust and coordinated efforts. Despite the visit of the OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu to Moscow and the meeting with Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Lavrov, during which the continuing deprivation of freedom of Dmytro Shabanov, Maksym Petrov and Vadym Golda was raised, in March 2025, later that month it became known that Dmytro was deported to Omsk, and on July 31, 2025, it was reported that Maksym was deported to Chelyabinsk – thousands kilometers from the occupied Luhansk oblast. We are gravely concerned by reports of torture and ill-treatment, lack of medical treatment, and inhumane or degrading detention conditions. These acts constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL), including the absolute prohibition of torture, and may result in irreversible – if not fatal – harm.
We appeal to the OSCE Secretariat, the PA Special Representative on Political Prisoners, Participating States, and the broader international community to uphold their duty of care by taking all available legal, diplomatic and political measures to secure the safe and unconditional release of our colleagues, who have now endured more than four years of unlawful detention. Their safety, dignity and fundamental rights must be defended decisively. The OSCE’s response must be consistent, concrete, and aimed at achieving their immediate release.
Furthermore, we call on all States to reaffirm their commitment to their obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL). This includes the protection of civilians, the pursuit of accountability for grave violations, and the unequivocal respect for the inviolability of personnel serving on international peace missions.
This is not only a matter of justice for our colleagues. Their case represents a critical test of the international community’s resolve to uphold the rule of law, human dignity, and the foundational principles of cooperative security.
We stand in unwavering solidarity with our Dmytro, Maksym and Vadym. We have not forgotten them and we will continue to seek their release.
If you wish to join the letter, please fill the form.
Signed by OSCE former and current colleagues (updated: October 3, 2025),
Mika Kouri, Finland, SMMU – Luhansk – CT1 2021-2022
Theodora E. von Hohenstaufen Noll, USA, SMMU – Luhansk CT1 2019-2021
Camberea Alexandra Mihaela, Romania, SMMU-Luhansk CT1 2020-2022
Paul Marius Ionita,Romania, SMMU-Luhansk MT-Severodonetsk Hub 2016-2021
Attila Kulcsár, Hungary OSCE SMM Luhansk Core Team 1 Stakhanov
Andres Chamorro, Spain, SMMU Luhansk CT1 2019-2022
Nada de Murashkin, Denmark, SMMU, Sievierodonetsk 2017-2019, Kyiv 2019-2021
Anonymous, Human Dimension Unit
Melinda Lord, Special Monitor, Ukraine, Kramatorsk, 2014-2015
Joshua Rosenblum, USA, SMMU-Luhansk Monitoring Team, CT1/LPH 2017-2022
Anonymous, Human rights officer, SMM, Donetsk, 2018-2019
Martha R. Barbosa, Former Team Leader SMMU Kharkiv 2014-2015 Former Team Leader SMMU Odessa 2017-2018
Alex Van Meirvenne, SMM Monitor, Ukraine, DMT/Mariupol Hub, 2017 -2022
Rune Castberg, OSCE SMMU Kramatorsk & Chernivtsi (2014-2019); 2020 OSCE Albanian Chairpersonship, Vienna, Austria; OSCE Centre in Ashgabat (2021-present), Turkmenistan
Priya Joshi, Ireland, SMM, Luhansk MT, 2020-2022
Anna Stakhanova, International Consultant on Accountability for War Crimes, OSCE ODIHR, Warsaw Poland
Anonymous
Iva van Leeuwen, CZ, SMMU Monitoring Officer, MT Luhansk, 2015-2016
Oksana Szulhan, Canada
Yana Zhovnirenko
António Pedro Proença Esgalhado
Azat Abdykadyrov, The Kyrgyz Republic, SMMU, Luhansk, CT2, 2021-2022
Tatiana Bedros
Jacek Burczy
Darko Brashnarski, IT officer, Macedonia, Mariopol, 2018-2022
Yurii Suprun, Department of Safety and Security, OSCE SMM to Ukraine, 2014-2015
Tetiana Shepil, National Treasury Officer, 2014-2022
Simon Horn, UK, Technical Monitoring Officer, DPH, Mar 2016-Jul 2018
Freddy Skjenken, Observer in SMMU, Luhansk Hub, 8. Mars 2015 to 1. August 2016
Anonymous
Pierre Day, Monitoring Officer/Liaison Officer/Executive Officer/Political Analyst/Acting Deputy Head of Unit, Dnipro, Donetsk, Kramatorsk/Bakhmut, Kyiv, 2014-2021
Alicia Kelley, Paramedic Severodonetsk, Aug 2019 – Mar 2020
Anonymous
Richard Bainter, USA, OSCE Mission to Bosnia & Herzegovina 2000 – 2003, OSCE Election Missions 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016
Anonymous
Petr Pojman, Monitoring Officer, Donetsk team, Czechia
Marek Chrobok, Kramatorsk Hub (monitor), Donetsk (PGL, AHL) 2017-2022
Per Gunnar Nikolaisen, Norway
Zoltán Káplár, Monitor, Ukraine, Luhansk Hub, Severodonetsk Hub, 2016-2022
James Peterson,OSCE Monitoring Officer – SMM to Ukraine, Donetsk Patrol Hub
Anonymous
Simon Carpentier, France, JPO/Gender Officer, OSCE SMM Kyiv HQ (2021-2022)
Magdalena STANCZYK, Monitoring Officer based in Kramatorsk, Donetsk, Chernivtsi, Bakhmut and Kyiv HO (Sep 2014-Feb 2020). Executive Officer to Deputy Chief Monitor, Kyiv HO (Mar 2020-May 2022); seconding country: Poland Currently: Head of Field Office, OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina; seconding country: Poland
Mojca Šetinc Pašek, Alternative member of Slovenian Parliamentarian group OSCE, Member of Parliament Republik Slovenia
Volodymyr Herasymenko, Transport assistant, Ukraine, Dnipro, 2015-2022
Dmytrii KHOMENKO, Ukraine
Adrienn Kruliczky, Camera Sensor Expert, Severodonetsk, 2019-2022
Roberto Montella, International Elections Officer, OSCE Mission in BIH (1999) Political Affairs Officer, OSCE Mission Kosovo (1999-2001), Head of Office South Serbia OSCE Mission Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (2001-2003), Chief of Staff OSCE Mission Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006), Serbia 2006-2009)
