Dagmar Schmidt, Deputy Chair of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, has taken on political patronage of abducted Ukrainian civilians

Frankfurt am Main, 8 April 2026 – Campaigning for the freedom of arbitrarily detained Ukrainian civilians: Dagmar Schmidt, Deputy Chair of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, has taken on political patronage for the abducted Ukrainian civilians Maxym and Danylo Manukhin and, together with the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR), is calling for their immediate release. Like father and son, a total of more than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been abducted, the majority of whom remain in Russian custody.  

On 10 March 2022, the Russian military abducted the teacher Maxym Manukhin, born on 13 July 1977, and his son Danylo from their home in the Kyiv region. Manukhin is currently being held at Penal Colony No. 12 in the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov Region (Russian Federation). Prior to his imprisonment, Maxym was already suffering from back problems, high blood pressure and varicose veins. Due to the appalling conditions of detention, he has since lost a great deal of weight; according to a report, his legs are festering and he is being denied medical assistance. His son Danylo Manukhin, born on 5 September 2001, also has serious health problems; he is imprisoned in the same penal colony, reports the ISHR.

Campaign for abducted Ukrainian civilians

Since the start of the war of aggression against Ukraine, the ISHR has documented numerous cases of abductions, torture and crimes against humanity committed by Russian troops, and is campaigning for the release of abducted civilians. The ISHR is in contact with the victims’ families, draws attention to the suffering of the victims, and has already secured 17 political sponsors for 22 Ukrainian civilians.

Ukraine takes centre stage at the ISHR annual conference

The ISHR is currently advocating on behalf of over 100 civilians and will be hosting a live video link with Dmytro Lubinez, Ukraine’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, at its upcoming annual conference on 11 April in Bonn. In addition, lawyer Anastasija Aleksejewa from the Ukrainian ISHR section will report on the ‘Fair Trial Monitoring at the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court’ project, in which three Kyiv universities and 250 law students from across the country are participating.

In 2022, to mark its 50th anniversary, the Frankfurt-based human rights organisation declared 8 April as “Political Sponsorship Day”. The ISHR has been campaigning on behalf of political prisoners worldwide for 50 years and has already arranged over 300 political sponsorships since the programme was launched in 2011.