Russia said Tuesday it would pull out of the Council of Europe after pressure mounted for Moscow to be expelled from the pan-European rights body over its invasion of Ukraine.
Essentially jumping before it was pushed from the Strasbourg-based body, the Russian foreign ministry said it had given notification of its departure to the Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric.
The decision draws the curtain on Russia's quarter century membership of the Council of Europe (COE) and also opens the way for Moscow to reimpose the death penalty if the authorities decide.
The so-called "Ruxit" from the Council of Europe means that Russia will no longer be a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights and its citizens will no longer be able to file applications to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
It is only the second time in the history of the Council of Europe that a member state has announced it has quit the body after Greece walked out temporarily in the late 1960s.
Russia was suspended from all its rights of representation a day after tens of thousands of troops entered Ukraine on February 24.
"As leaders of the Council of Europe we expressed on several occasions our firm condemnation of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine," Italian Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, the president of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, Tiny Kox, and the secretary general of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, said in a statement.
"The Committee of Ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting tomorrow morning also in the light of today’s notification by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation of the Russian leadership’s decision to withdraw from the Council of Europe," they said.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal had on Monday demanded that Russia be immediately expelled, saying it had no right to remain a member after sending troops to the pro-Western country.
- Eyes on death penalty -
The Russian foreign ministry posted a statement on "launching the procedure to exit the Council of Europe" on its Telegram account, adding it had "no regret" about leaving.
Russia joined the Council of Europe in 1996.
The ministry said its exit would "not affect the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens" and that "the implementation of already adopted resolutions of the European Court of Human Rights will continue, if they do not contradict Russia's Constitution".
It claimed that EU and NATO member states within the Council of Europe had turned the organisation into an "instrument for anti-Russian policies".
Russia's exit will mark a major change for the ECHR which acts as a court of final instance when all domestic avenues are exhausted.
Cases brought by Russian citizens have piled up at the ECHR accounting for 24 percent of the current cases, such as those concerning dissident prisoner Alexei Navalny.
No member state has ever been expelled from the Council of Europe, which was created in 1949 and has 47 member states including Russia.
Moscow's move has one precedent -- when it was under military rule Greece walked out of the body in 1969 to avoid being expelled. Athens then rejoined in 1974 after the fall of the junta.
Not using the death penalty is a precondition of COE membership, and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy national security council chief, had evoked bringing back capital punishment if Russia left the body.
Medvedev had described Russia's suspension as "a good opportunity to restore a number of important measures to prevent especially serious crimes -- such as the death penalty... which is actively used in the US and China".
Russia has observed a moratorium on the death penalty since 1996 though it has never formally abolished the practice.
Belarus, the only European country to still use the death penalty and Moscow's ally, is not a member of the organisation.
A Russian exit will also deprive the COE of nearly seven percent of its annual budget, around 500 million euros ($545 million).
But Buric told AFP this month she had received "reassuring" signals from several member states, including France and Germany, ready to guarantee the financial sustainability of the organisation.
Fox News cameraman, Ukrainian producer killed near Kyiv
A French-Irish cameraman for Fox News and a Ukrainian working as a producer for the US television network have been killed in fighting near Kyiv, Fox News said Tuesday.
Cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova died and correspondent Benjamin Hall was wounded when their vehicle was struck Monday by incoming fire in Horenka, outside the capital.
Hall, a Briton who works as the network's State Department correspondent, remains hospitalized in Ukraine, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said.
Zakrzewski, 55, who was based in London, had dual French and Irish citizenship and been working in Ukraine since February.
"He was a warm-hearted traveler who provoked beautiful encounters, he was very humble and human and had not lost any of his sensitivity over the years," a member of his family told AFP.
Last week Zakrzewski "had helped to shelter a newborn baby found after a bombing, named Prince Charlie," the family member said.
He knew Pakistan and India well and took "particularly remarkable images of the conflict in Kashmir," she said.
Zakrzewski also had a long relationship with Afghanistan, where he had covered decades of conflict, from the war against the Soviets to the return of the Taliban, she said.
Fox News said Zakrzewski had played a "key role" in getting the network's Afghan freelance associates and their families out of the country after the US withdrawal.
It also said he was given an "Unsung Hero" award at the company's annual employee Spotlight Awards in December.
"Pierre was a war zone photographer who covered nearly every international story for Fox News from Iraq to Afghanistan to Syria during his long tenure with us," Scott said.
"His passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched."
He is survived by his wife Michelle, a documentary filmmaker and producer, his family member said.
Scott also paid tribute to Kuvshynova, 24, saying she had earned a reputation for being "hard-working, funny, kind and brave" while working with the Fox crew to cover the conflict.
"Her dream was to connect people around the world and tell their stories and she fulfilled that through her journalism," Scott said, adding confirmation of her death had been delayed out of respect for her family.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said he was "deeply disturbed and saddened" by the deaths of Zakrzewski and his colleague.
"My thoughts are with their families, friends and fellow journalists," Martin said on Twitter. "We condemn this indiscriminate and immoral war by Russia on Ukraine."
- US journalist killed Sunday -
Scott Griffen, deputy director of the International Press Institute, said the journalists had "bravely risked their lives to make sure the world understood the true horror of what is happening in Ukraine."
"We renew our call on military forces to do everything in their power to ensure the safety of journalists, whose work is essential to documenting this war," he said.
UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay, in a press statement, echoed the call for journalists to "never be targeted," and for "international humanitarian norms" to be respected.
On Sunday, a US journalist was shot dead and another wounded in Irpin, a frontline suburb of Kyiv that has witnessed some of the fiercest fighting since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Video documentary maker Brent Renaud, 50, was working for Time Studios on a project about global refugee issues.
The International Federation of Journalists identified the wounded journalist as American photographer Juan Arredondo.
A Ukrainian who had been in the same car as the Americans was also wounded, according to a medic at the scene.
According to Lyudmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian parliament's human rights chief, at least two other Ukrainian journalists have also been killed.
Evgeny Sakun died in a Russian strike on a Kyiv television tower and Viktor Dudar died in fighting close to the southern port city of Mykolaiv, Denisova said on Telegram.
Warsaw seeks NATO 'peace mission' to help Ukraine
Poland on Tuesday called for a NATO peace mission "protected by armed forces" to help Ukraine.
"This cannot be an unarmed mission," Vice Premier Jaroslaw Kaczynski was quoted as saying by the Polish news agency PAP during a visit to Kyiv.
"It must seek to provide humanitarian and peaceful aid to Ukraine."
Kaczynski, along with the Polish, Czech and Slovenian prime ministers, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmygal.
It is the first visit to Kyiv by foreign leaders since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.
"I think that we need a peacekeeping mission from NATO, or even possibly from a larger international structure, but a mission that will be able to defend itself and that will operate on Ukrainian territory, which will be in this country with the agreement of the president and the government of Ukraine and it will not be a defenceless mission," Kaczynski said.
It "will strive for peace, to provide humanitarian aid, but at the same time it will be protected by appropriate forces, armed forces," added Kaczynski, who is also the leader of the ruling conservative party in Poland and is considered the main strategist of government policy.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki again called on the EU to "very quickly give Ukraine candidate status" and added: "We will try to organise defensive weapons".
The three prime ministers, and Kaczynski, went to Kyiv to "confirm the unequivocal support of the entire European Union for the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine and to present a broad package of support for the Ukrainian state and society," said a statement posted on the Polish government's website.
Shortly after their arrival, Ukraine's deputy prime minister Shmygal praised "the courage of the true friends of Ukraine".
The European leaders travelled to Kyiv as Russian forces attempt to besiege the Ukrainian capital, which has been put under curfew, and their strikes hit some neighbourhoods.
While the three heads of government are members of the European Council and therefore its representatives, they do not have an official mandate from the council, according to a European source in Brussels.
Latest developments
Here are the latest developments in Russia's war in Ukraine:
- US announces $800m in assistance -
US President Joe Biden will announce $800 million in new security assistance to Ukraine on Wednesday, a White House official says -- the same day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to deliver a speech to the US Congress.
The announcement brings "the total (aid) announced in the last week alone to $1 billion," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says.
- European leaders visit Kyiv -
A trio of leaders from Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenian meet Ukraine's president in his besieged capital, with Warsaw calling for a NATO peace mission "protected by armed forces" to help Kyiv.
"This cannot be an unarmed mission," Vice Premier Jaroslaw Kaczynski says. "It must seek to provide humanitarian and peaceful aid to Ukraine."
- Journalists killed -
Two journalists from the US Fox News network are killed in fighting near the Ukrainian capital.
Cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova die and correspondent Benjamin Hall is wounded when their vehicle is struck by incoming fire in Horenka, outside Kyiv.
- 35-hour curfew in Kyiv -
A 35-hour curfew begins in the Ukrainian capital.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko has warned of a "difficult and dangerous moment" for the city as Russian forces have stepped up strikes on residential buildings.
- 20,000 leave besieged city -
Around 20,000 people manage to leave the besieged port city of Mariupol by driving along a humanitarian corridor agreed with Russian forces, a Ukrainian presidential aide says.
- Refugees top 3 million -
More than three million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the invasion, the UN migration agency IOM says.
Around half are minors, says the UN children's agency.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says 1.8 million people have fled to Poland.
- 97 children killed -
Ninety-seven Ukrainian children have died since the invasion began, Zelensky tells Canadian lawmakers.
He renews his calls for a no-fly zone over Ukraine to "stop the bombing". NATO allies, including Canada, have rejected the proposal, fearing it would lead to an expansion of the conflict.
- TV protester fined, released -
Marina Ovsyannikova, the journalist who protested against the conflict during a prime-time news broadcast on Russian state television, is fined and released.
A Moscow court ordered her to pay a fine of 30,000 rubles ($280, 247 euros) after she barged onto the set of Russia's most-watched evening news broadcast holding a poster reading "No War".
- 'Fundamental contradictions' in talks -
Ukrainian negotiations team member Mykhailo Podolyak says there are "fundamental contradictions" in talks aimed at ending Russia's military attack.
"We'll continue tomorrow. A very difficult and viscous negotiation process. There are fundamental contradictions. But there is certainly room for compromise," Podolyak tweets.
- Brent drops below $100 a barrel -
Brent oil futures finish under $100 a barrel for the first time since the second day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine almost three weeks ago.
- No NATO for Ukraine -
Zelensky says his country should accept that it will not become a member of the US-led NATO military alliance, a key Russian concern it used to justify its invasion.
"Ukraine is not a member of NATO... We have heard for years that the doors were open, but we also heard that we could not join. It's a truth and it must be recognised," Zelensky tells military officials.
- Russia 'enlists 40,000 Syrian fighters' -
Russia has drawn up lists of 40,000 fighters from the Syrian army and allied militias to be put on standby for deployment in Ukraine, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor says.
- Five journalists killed -
An Irish cameraman for Fox News and a Ukrainian working as a producer for the US television network have been killed in fighting near Kyiv, Fox News says.
Two other Ukrainian journalists, as well as a US documentary filmmaker, have also been killed, the Ukrainian parliament's human rights chief Lyudmyla Denisova says.
- 'Massive' damage to airport -
Russian bombardment causes "massive" damage to the airport of the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, destroying the runway and damaging the terminal, regional authorities say.
- China wary of sanctions -
China's foreign minister says Beijing "is not a party to the crisis" in Ukraine and does not want to be affected by Western sanctions following US reports that Moscow asked Beijing for military and economic aid.
- German warning on software -
Germany's cyber security agency BSI urges consumers not to use the anti-virus software made by Russia's Kaspersky, warning the firm could be implicated in cyber warfare.
The United States already banned government agencies from using the software in 2017. Kaspersky denies being in league with the Kremlin.