Vadym Golda, OSCE SMM staff member, likely being transferred from temporarily occupied Donetsk Oblast to Russia

According to his family, Vadym, who had been held in temporarily occupied Donetsk region, was last in touch with them on 15 October 2026. He had previously told them that for several months there had been rumours of an “evacuation” of convicted prisoners to Siberia, and that since August 2026 people had been regularly taken away in small groups. Vadym expected to be transferred on 19 October.

There has been no contact with him since. It is unknown where Vadym Golda is now, where he is being taken, or in what conditions he is being held.

Vadym is one of three OSCE SMM staff members who were unlawfully detained in the occupied territory in 2022 and later sentenced by Russia-controlled “courts” on charges of “high treason” and “espionage”. His colleagues Dmytro Shabanov and Maksym Petrov were already transferred to penal colonies in Omsk and Chelyabinsk in 2025.

Such a transfer from occupied territory to Russia violates international humanitarian law. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the deportation of protected persons from occupied territory (Art. 49) and requires that even those convicted by the occupying authorities serve their sentences there (Art. 76). In Russian practice, “evacuation” often serves as a cover for unlawful transfer, rather than being a temporary measure for the security of the population or for imperative military reasons, as international humanitarian law requires. These actions may amount to war crimes, the latest in a series of grave violations suffered by the three OSCE staff members.

The experience of Ukrainians unlawfully detained and convicted by Russia, including Dmytro and Maksym, shows what such a transfer entails. Prolonged transport between facilities, harsh regimes in remote colonies with extreme climatic conditions, and ill-treatment of detainees pose serious risks to the lives and health of all three. Families lose the possibility of visiting their relatives, and obtaining any information about them becomes even harder: the last call with Maksym, for example, took place in January 2026. Because Russia effectively prevents independent monitoring of detainees’ condition, once they are deported there are almost no ways left to find out what is happening to them.

Despite active efforts to release unlawfully detained civilians, Dmytro, Maksym and Vadym remain in Russian captivity.

Russia must immediately inform the family of Vadym’s whereabouts and release all three OSCE staff members. We call on Ukraine, the OSCE, the United States and other states involved in negotiations on the release of detainees and committed to achieving a lasting peace to make their return a priority and to see these efforts through: Dmytro, Maksym and Vadym must be returned to their families, who have been waiting for them for more than four and a half years.