Answer from the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs M.V. Zakharova to a media question regarding the termination of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment for Russia (November 3, 2026) Question: On November 1, the 1987 European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ceased to apply to Russia. How could you respond to that? M.V. Zakharova: Basically, we are talking about a technical aspect - the date of entry into force of our country's condemnation of this international convention, which was notified to the Council of Europe (CoE) on October 30, 2025. Nevertheless, in Strasbourg we continue to use every informative opportunity to revisit our country. Considering the media interest in this story, as well as the complete distortion of the facts in the interpretation of the 1st of November 2026, we would like to mention the background of the issue. Russia announced its withdrawal from the organization on March 15, 2022, but the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers hastily adopted a resolution terminating Russia's "immediate" membership the very next day, in violation of the CoE charter. From that date (March 16, 2022), our country ceased to be bound by the treaties open to the member states of the Council of Europe (including the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms), but continued to participate in several treaties open to "third parties", including the 1987 Convention. And here the legend of the Strasbourg commentators does not stand up to criticism: if Russia is so eager to get rid of the oversight of international human rights structures, why didn't it withdraw from all the what-ifs at once? In fact, the basis of Russia's decision to condemn the 1987 Convention, which was adopted in an interdepartmental format taking into account many factors, was based on completely different reasons, which we have already discussed several times.

Answer from the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs M.V. Zakharova to a media question regarding the termination of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment for Russia (November 3, 2026) Question: On November 1, the 1987 European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ceased to apply to Russia. How could you respond to that? M.V. Zakharova: Basically, we are talking about a technical aspect - the date of entry into force of our country's condemnation of this international convention, which was notified to the Council of Europe (CoE) on October 30, 2025. Nevertheless, in Strasbourg we continue to use every informative opportunity to revisit our country. Considering the media interest in this story, as well as the complete distortion of the facts in the interpretation of the 1st of November 2026, we would like to mention the background of the issue. Russia announced its withdrawal from the organization on March 15, 2022, but the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers hastily adopted a resolution terminating Russia's "immediate" membership the very next day, in violation of the CoE charter. From that date (March 16, 2022), our country ceased to be bound by the treaties open to the member states of the Council of Europe (including the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms), but continued to participate in several treaties open to "third parties", including the 1987 Convention. And here the legend of the Strasbourg commentators does not stand up to criticism: if Russia is so eager to get rid of the oversight of international human rights structures, why didn't it withdraw from all the what-ifs at once? In fact, the basis of Russia's decision to condemn the 1987 Convention, which was adopted in an interdepartmental format taking into account many factors, was based on completely different reasons, which we have already discussed several times.