The Russian Information Bureau for Prisoners of War is a fake. The international community must act

Let us be frank — the Russian regime has effectively paralyzed the full-fledged activity of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in achieving its statutory goals. However, as an exception, one can cite the example of the Moscow Mechanism: after the start of the full-scale aggression against Ukraine, reports from independent experts on key problems of the “human dimension” remain an essential tool for documenting mass and systemic violations, especially violations of vital requirements of international humanitarian law.

Most recently, in September 2025, another report of the Moscow Mechanism dedicated to the situation of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Russian Federation and in the occupied territories[1] was published. This document generally correctly describes the content of the problem as violations of the rights of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Significantly, the report documents a critical international problem.

The mission established that the Russian Federation systematically denies Ukrainian combatants the status of prisoners of war, designating them as “persons detained for opposing the special military operation.” The same designation is often used for detained Ukrainian civilians. This blurs the line between prisoners of war and civilian detainees, who fall under different legal regimes of international humanitarian law, and opens up opportunities for the criminal prosecution of prisoners of war for participating in hostilities[2].

At the same time, the aforementioned September report of the OSCE experts contains one crucial aspect that prompted our response.

Thus, in the report’s General observations and General conclusions, the experts conclude that “The Russian National Information Bureau (NIB) is not fully transparent, which limits the exchange of information about prisoners of war”[3]. Undoubtedly, there is no transparency in the activities of the Russian authorities. What is essential, however, is that this conclusion by experts creates the impression that the Russian side, in fulfillment of the requirements of the Third Geneva Convention, has created a fully functional national information bureau, which, although not very effective, is nevertheless operating.

The experts in the report indicate that in February 2022, the Russian Federation established a National Information Bureau (Information Bureau for Prisoners of War), which, however, does not have a website and for which no other information is available except for a telephone number.

So, did the Russian Federation actually fulfill one of the key requirements of the Third Geneva Convention and create a National Information Bureau (Information Bureau for Prisoners of War) — a crucial national-level institution designed to streamline the accounting of persons protected by the convention?

As early as the summer of 2024, after consultations with the International Committee of the Red Cross, Ukrainian human rights activists stated that there is virtually no national information bureau in the Russian Federation, only a “hotline” of the Ministry of Defense. One of the authors of this article raised this problem during a round table in Kyiv on June 26, 2024[4].

There are several grounds for concluding that the Kremlin’s simulacrum does not meet the requirements of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions and cannot serve as a substitute for a national information bureau.

Firstly, there is no confirmation that the Russian Ministry of Defense received state authorization to create such an information bureau. It should be recalled that, under the conventions, the National Information Bureau must be national in nature, not departmental, and that the responsibility for fulfilling the convention requirements rests with the state, not individual state bodies or officials (Article 12 of the Convention).

Secondly, the Russian imitation structure does not perform the functions stipulated in Article 122 of the Third Geneva Convention. It does not collect the information required by this article about all persons protected by the convention, and, accordingly, does not transmit this information to Ukraine, in particular, it does not report on the health status of the seriously wounded and sick, does not provide addresses to which letters can be sent to prisoners, and does not transfer valuable personal belongings of prisoners of war.

There is another essential aspect of the problem. The Russian simulacrum is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense and is called the “Information Bureau for Prisoners of War,” therefore, even formally, it has no relation to Ukrainian civilians whom the occupiers have deprived of their freedom. At the same time, Article 136 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Convention) requires the party to the conflict to establish a national information bureau for civilian persons. Its functions are identical to the functions of the bureau for prisoners of war.

Currently, the Russian Federation has illegally deprived several thousand Ukrainian civilians of their freedom. These people are held in places of forced detention in harsh conditions, often incommunicado, without court decisions. Their situation is the subject of a report by experts of the Moscow Mechanism, published in April 2024. At the same time, there is no national information bureau operating in the Russian Federation regarding civilians, and the “Information Bureau for Prisoners of War” is not entrusted with such functions.

Reports by experts of the Moscow Mechanism on the situation of civilians and prisoners of war have already been published. Given that they are taken into account and considered in international relations and by jurisdictional bodies, there is a very real threat that the Russian regime will use the experts’ conclusions to justify the information vacuum in which the detained Ukrainians find themselves.

We ask the states with the relevant authorities to activate the Moscow Mechanism and initiate a detailed study of the problems arising from the absence of real national information bureaus for prisoners of war and civilians in the Russian Federation. We also call on international human rights and monitoring mechanisms and institutions to investigate this issue.

[1] Report on Possible Violations and Abuses of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, Related to the Treatment of Ukrainian POWs by the Russian Federation

[2] The Mission found that the Russian Federation systematically denies members of the Ukrainian armed forces hors de combat POWs status, designating them instead as “persons detained for countering the special military operation.” The same designation is used for detained Ukrainian civilians. This blurs the line between POWs and civilian detainees, who are subjected to different legal regimes under IHL, and opens the door for criminal prosecution of POWs for mere participation in hostilities.

[3] The Russian National Information Bureau (NIB) is not fully transparent, limiting the exchange of information about POWs.

[4] “Missing Persons: The Problem of Search and Identification”. The most critical points from the discussion. 02.07.2024/Center for Civil Liberties.