The vast majority of the countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) involved the Moscow Mechanism for solving the problem of Russiaʼs arbitrary detention of Ukrainian civilians in the occupied territories.
This was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba.
"During this war, Russia took thousands of peaceful Ukrainian citizens hostage in the temporarily occupied territories. They are the most vulnerable group that is overlooked at the international level," he said.
And he added that he expects that thanks to this mechanism it will be possible to establish the true scale of the crime. The Moscow mechanism will be the first international one to be used in this matter.
Now a group of independent international expertswill be able to investigate Russiaʼs crimes against Ukrainian civilians. Experts can collect information, establish the facts of a crime, act as mediators and perform other functions requested by the state where they will work.
"Earlier, I called on the OSCE, the UN and other international organizations to use all tools and, if necessary, create new ones to solve the problem of Ukrainian civilian hostages and to facilitate their release. I continue to call on all international organizations, public organizations and mass media to pay more attention to Ukrainian civilian hostages held by Russia," Kuleba emphasized.
- As of December 2023, Ukraine had official confirmation that Russia captured 28,000 Ukrainian civilians and deported 19,540 Ukrainian children.