OSCE participating States invoke the Moscow Mechanism to investigate Russia's treatment of Ukrainian Prisoners of War
On 24 July 2025, 41 participating States of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), including Lithuania, following consultations with Ukraine, invoked the Moscow Mechanism to investigate the treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) by the Russian Federation.
“There have been credible reports that the extensive and routine torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian POWs throughout their detention constitutes a continued systematic pattern of state policy and practice by the Russian Federation”, – participating States have stressed in their statement. Serious concerns have been raised regarding reports of executions of Ukrainian POWs and the desecration of bodies.
In accordance with the initiative, a mission of experts has been invited to establish facts and circumstances surrounding possible contraventions of relevant OSCE commitments, violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, including possible cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity, related to the treatment of Ukrainian POWs by the Russian Federation.
This is the fifth invocation of the Moscow Mechanism to address potential Russia’s crimes following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In cooperation with Ukraine, the following participating States have joined the initiative: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The statement of the participating State invoking the OSCE Moscow Mechanism is available here.
