Ukraine crisis: Russia resigns from Council of Europe rights watchdog

Moscow, Russia): Amid Russia’s ongoing military operations in Ukraine, Moscow has left the continent’s leading human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, ahead of a possible expulsion over its attack on Kyiv.

This makes Russia only the second country after Greece to have told the group about human rights and upholding the rule of law, news agency Reuters reported.

Earlier in 1969, Greece had done the same to avoid expulsion after a group of army officers seized power in a military coup. However, the country was reunited after democracy was restored five years later.

After this, the Human Rights Convention will cease to apply to Russia and Russians will no longer be able to appeal against their government to the European Court of Human Rights.

The Russian military began military operations in Ukraine on 24 February, three days after Moscow recognized the separate regions of Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, as independent republics, after “demilitarizing” and “rejecting” Ukraine. Announced for a “special military operation”.