On September 29, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law officially withdrawing Russia from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and two related protocols, marking a dramatic escalation in Moscow’s departure from Western institutions and international human rights oversight. The move has sparked condemnation from Ukrainian officials, human rights activists, and international observers, who warn that it strips away the last legal mechanisms for monitoring and preventing torture in Russian prisons and occupied territories.
Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets minced no words in his response. According to Ukrainska Pravda, Lubinets declared, “This is more than a legal formality – it is a deliberate act that strips away the last 'masks' and shows that torture is central to Kremlin state policy.” He added that the convention not only prohibited cruel and inhuman treatment but also provided the crucial mechanism of international monitoring. “That possibility is now lost,” Lubinets lamented, emphasizing that the world has been deprived of a key lever to respond to mounting evidence of torture in Russian-controlled areas.
The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, established under the Council of Europe, allowed the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to conduct regular and unannounced visits to detention facilities. These visits were designed to assess conditions and the treatment of detainees, providing states with recommendations on improving conditions. Over nearly three decades, the committee visited Russia 30 times and produced 27 reports, though only four were published—the rest withheld pending Russian government approval, as reported by Associated Press.
Officials in Moscow justified the withdrawal by citing the Council of Europe’s decision to block the election of Russian members to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture after Russia’s expulsion from the Council in March 2022. An explanatory note attached to the bill stated that Russia had lacked representation on the committee since 2023. Yet, as Lubinets pointed out, Russia had remained formally bound by the convention, providing a legal avenue for international pressure—an option now closed off by Putin’s signature.
Ukraine and human rights groups are deeply concerned about the implications. The Center for Countering Disinformation, as cited by UNN, warned that the withdrawal could “lead to an increase in the scale of torture in Russia.” They argue that, despite years of ignoring the convention’s provisions and widespread documented torture against Ukrainian prisoners, Russia’s formal exit removes even the pretense of a ban on inhumane treatment. The Center described the move as yet another step in the Kremlin’s systematic dismantling of democratic institutions and international human rights obligations since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
According to The Kyiv Independent, Lubinets further stated, “The path Russia has chosen is that of a repressive, murderous state. Its denunciation of the convention only confirms that torture and inhuman treatment are systemic practices of the Kremlin.” He also highlighted that Moscow’s move is a calculated effort to avoid international oversight and remove mechanisms to address torture in Russian prisons and occupied territories holding Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians.
The consequences of this legal step are not merely theoretical. Even when Russia was a signatory to the convention, evidence of torture and war crimes against Ukrainian civilians and troops was already well documented. The United Nations has recently exposed shocking details about Russian torture practices. As reported in a forthcoming UN dossier, one of the most disturbing methods, dubbed “call to Putin,” involves administering electric shocks to the genitals of prisoners using a Soviet-era telephone device. The report, based on interviews, medical records, and survivor testimonies from multiple Ukrainian regions, details how victims are subjected to 80-volt shocks to their ears, fingers, feet, and genitals. Other abuses include gang sexual violence, routine beatings, burning nipples, mock executions, and threats of castration.
Dr. Alice Jill Edwards, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture, stated, “The scale is really off the charts about how many people who are detained are subjected to some form of degrading or inhumane treatment.” She warned that the documented pattern of abuse is not the work of rogue individuals, but rather a deliberate, state-level policy. “It’s not only on an individual level; this is widespread and systematic, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Edwards said, as reported by MGDK. She further asserted that Vladimir Putin and senior officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, bear direct responsibility for these policies. “Those directives do not exist,” she said, referring to any orders to stop the abuse.
The UN report, due to be presented to the Human Rights Council in October 2025, covers ten cases of extreme abuse, including a 50-year-old man from Kherson who described being beaten, losing teeth, and facing a mock execution. Survivors emphasize that the psychological harm inflicted is at least as severe as the physical injuries. Some victims reported Russian forces threatening to sexually abuse children to extract confessions, with such threats and coerced videos used for blackmail and control in occupied areas.
Human rights activists in Russia have also sounded the alarm. On its Telegram channel, the Committee Against Torture warned that Russia’s exit from the European anti-torture convention means it is “no longer obligated to provide international inspectors with access to detention centers.” The group cautioned that this will likely lead to worsening prison conditions and “the complete loss of benchmarks for developing the penitentiary system according to international norms.”
Senator Andrey Klishas, a senior Russian lawmaker, attempted to downplay the significance of the move, insisting that Russia “remains a participant in all other international conventions that are specifically aimed at preventing the use of torture, inhuman treatment, and treatment degrading human dignity.” Yet critics note that Russia’s record of compliance with such international agreements is already deeply suspect. Last year, Lubinets pointed out that most Ukrainian POWs released from Russian captivity had never been visited by Red Cross representatives, despite Russia’s obligations under the Geneva Conventions.
According to Associated Press, more than 200 Ukrainian soldiers have died in Russian prisons since the beginning of the full-scale war. These grim statistics, combined with the withdrawal from the European anti-torture framework, have left many fearing for the future of those still detained.
In response, Lubinets and other Ukrainian officials have called on the international community to redouble efforts using the tools that remain. “Russia remains a party to the UN Convention against Torture, so it is necessary to intensify the work of UN mechanisms as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross,” Lubinets urged, recognizing that the fight for accountability is far from over, even as another avenue for justice closes.
With the last vestiges of international oversight now stripped away, the world faces a stark test: whether it can marshal the will and resources to protect the vulnerable and hold perpetrators to account, even as Russia’s leadership seeks to operate behind a wall of secrecy.