Release Before Peace

ReleaseBeforePeace

Ukrainian children under russian occupation and civilians in captivity cannot wait for peace.

Release of captured civilians and abducted children must happen before any peace agreement — not as a bargaining chip, not deferred.

Read the policy paper Go to the campaign

Why release cannot wait

Since 2014, russia has occupied Ukrainian territory and annexed Crimea; in 2022 it launched its full-scale invasion. Large parts of Ukraine's east and south remain occupied.

Beyond massive physical destruction, the occupation’s lasting impact falls on the people living under it: through forced passportization, property expropriation, militarization of young people, and the arrest of thousands of civilians.

Figures

20,651

children deported or forcibly transferred.

16,000+

civilians unlawfully detained; only around 1,500 released to date. 85% of them report torture.

44,000

children from the occupied territories are enrolled in Yunarmiya.

34,000+

properties seized in occupied territory since 2024.

2,222

enforced-disappearance cases registered.

1.6m

children under the age of 18 live under occupation.

None of the monitoring bodies has physical access to occupied territory. Every figure is a verified minimum. Source: OSCE Moscow Mechanism expert mission, July 2026.

Children: abduction, reeducation, militarization

Children are placed in russian schools, reeducation camps and military-patriotic organizations, where their Ukrainian identity is suppressed and replaced with russian ideology. Beyond indoctrination through the regular russian school system, Ukrainian children have been taken to at least 210 identified facilities, including summer camps, sanatoriums and military training grounds.

Orphans and children in unclear custody arrangements have been placed with russian families, making return increasingly difficult. In occupied Crimea the number of cadet classes rose from 3 in 2015 to 306 in 2025.

Civilians: detention, coercion, enforced disappearance

Activists, civil servants, journalists, clergy and relatives of Ukrainian soldiers face arrest and persecution. An arrest can mean unofficial detention, torture or enforced disappearance, and families are left without information.

Civilian detainees are not prisoners of war.

Prisoners of war have protected status and exchange mechanisms. Civilian hostages have no comparable status, no dedicated release mechanism, and risk being permanently excluded from any exchange.

Release first, then peace

not negotiable

Abducted children return
Captured civilians are released
The militarization of children ends

negotiable afterwards

Ceasefire terms
Security arrangements
Sanctions
Peace agreement

In the current discussions about peace talks, russia treats this as a bargaining chip. International law is unambiguous: children must never be part of prisoner-of-war exchanges, and their release must not be negotiable. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova for the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children.

Policy recommendations

1 — Accountability

Prosecute crimes under universal jurisdiction and support international compensation mechanisms.

2 — Targeted pressure

Sanction those implementing occupation policies, not only senior officials.

3 — Return and reintegration

Coordinate international efforts to return abducted children and release civilians, while preparing support for their return.

4 — Non-recognition and protection

Reject occupation-era russian documents and protect Ukrainians from russian coercion and intelligence activity.

All recommendations in the policy paper

Partners

Release Before Peace is a campaign by Vitsche e.V. with Terre des Hommes and Razom. Vitsche is a Ukrainian-led civil society organisation based in Berlin.