Overview

• A decree signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Aug. 23 asks President Vladimir Putin to submit a denunciation of the treaty to the State Duma.
• The proposal covers the convention and its additional protocols, and it sets no formal exit date.
• The treaty empowers the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture to inspect detention sites, a mechanism Russia has already undermined by denying access and declining cooperation.
• The CPT says Moscow failed to respond to requests for visits and information, including inquiries after Alexei Navalny’s 2024 death in the Polar Wolf colony.
• Reporting describes the move as largely symbolic after Russia’s 2022 expulsion from the Council of Europe, and Ukraine’s foreign ministry says it reflects a drive to shut down independent oversight.