On 25 September 2025, the expert mission under the Moscow Mechanism delivered its report to the OSCE Permanent Council. The mission had been invoked on 24 July 2025 by 41 OSCE participating States. The mandate of the expert team—Professors Hervé Ascensio, Veronika Bílková, and Mark Klamberg—was to build upon prior findings, to establish the facts and circumstances of alleged violations, to assess whether there is a pattern of widespread and systematic torture, ill-treatment, or execution of Ukrainian POWs, and to offer recommendations on relevant accountability mechanisms.

The report collects credible information indicating torture, ill-treatment, and executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war or persons hors de combat in Russian-controlled territories and in Russia. It notes recurring patterns of abuse, suggesting that violations are not always isolated incidents but may indicate systematic practice.  The experts observe that in many cases Russian authorities do not appear to recognize or apply protections associated with POW status, which undermines the legal safeguards that should be afforded under international humanitarian law. The report emphasizes the need for relevant accountability mechanisms to respond to the documented violations.

The Moscow Mechanism, established by all OSCE participating States in 1991, allows one or more participating States to request the ODIHR to ‘ask another participating State whether it would agree to invite a mission of experts to address a specific, clearly defined issue on its territory relating to the human dimension.

The report is now available for OSCE participating States as a basis for further discussion and follow-up.

Link to full report