On Sept. 29, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law withdrawing from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, symbolically making Russia the first country in history to abandon this anti-torture pact. Russia’s government attempted to present the withdrawal as a matter of “procedural fairness.” Moscow claimed it was forced out because the Council of Europe had denied Russia participation in the governing committee of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture

Three years ago, on the night of July 28-29, 2022, Russians blew up a barrack in the penal colony in Olenivka, killing over 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and injuring around 130. The victims were soldiers of the Azov Brigade who had defended Mariupol and left the Azovstal plant following an order from Ukraine’s highest military and political command. Going into captivity was part of an agreed plan involving the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Desp