Two Ukrainian OSCE staff members remain in Russian captivity more than three years after their arrest in occupied Luhansk, Realna Gazeta, an analytical project covering events in eastern Ukraine, particularly in the Luhansk Oblast, reported on 15 April.
Maksym Petrov and Dmytro Shabanov were detained on 14 and 15 April 2022, respectively, and later sentenced to 13 years imprisonment on charges of “treason” and “espionage,” according to the report.
Armed men arrested Petrov on 14 April 2022. They broke into his apartment and forced him face down on the floor. The next day, masked men stormed Shabanov’s home in Kadiivka and dragged him out of bed.
Both men worked for the OSCE monitoring mission in the Russian occupied Luhansk Oblast since the beginning of Russian occupation. They held documents granting them diplomatic immunity.
“They are neither Russian citizens nor citizens of the so-called ‘LNR’ (so-called ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’).They never changed their passports or nationality. Nevertheless, they were convicted under laws that shouldn’t have applied to them,” explains lawyer Yevheniia Kapalkina, who represents their families.
In September 2022, the so-called “Supreme Court of the LNR” sentenced both men to 13 years in prison. Authorities accused them of being recruited by CIA operatives in Ukraine.
Occupation media released propaganda videos of both men. Shabanov’s wife Margaryta described her husband’s condition in the footage: “At the beginning of the video, a bag is removed from his head, and he struggles to open his eyes in the daylight. He appeared emaciated, with hollow cheeks and unhealthy skin. His t-shirt was torn.”
In January 2025, authorities “aligned” their sentences with Russian criminal law. This allowed their deportation to Russia. In March 2025, Shabanov was transferred from Krasnolutsk Correctional Colony to an unknown location. The Realna Gazeta reported that he was moved through transit detention centers in Rostov and Voronezh. His lawyer indicates he may be transferred to the Omsk Oblast.
Petrov remains in Krasnolutsk Colony but faces similar deportation. He has serious health problems and reports his condition is deteriorating.
“Russia is doing this to maintain a pool of prisoners for potential exchanges and to spread out detainees convicted of treason across various colonies to prevent rebellions or other incidents,” Kapalkina said.
The OSCE had suspended its mission in Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the day of Russia’s full-scale invasion. International staff were evacuated, but national staff remained in occupied territories.
Kapalkina explained that no mechanisms currently exist to secure their release. “If we look specifically at the OSCE, we see that they are OSCE employees, members of an organisation comprising 57 countries, including Russia. The issue is that all decisions within the OSCE are made by consensus, and if one country—Russia—is the violator of international law, reaching that consensus becomes impossible.”
This situation undermines future peacekeeping initiatives. “No international organisation will agree to operate in occupied territories if its staff can be arbitrarily detained on fabricated charges,” Kapalkina notes.
Both the OSCE and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have expressed concern, but these appeals have not yielded results.
As of early 2025, approximately 4,337 Ukrainians are held in Russian captivity, including 3,574 servicemen and 763 civilians, according to the Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine.
The UN and human rights organizations reported that over 6,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war remain in Russian custody, with ongoing reports of torture, ill-treatment, and executions.
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