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Russia on Tuesday said 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.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it had given notification of its departure to the Secretary General, Marija Pejcinovic Buric.
The decision ends Russia's 26-year membership of the Council of Europe and opens the way for Moscow to reimpose the death penalty if the authorities decide to do so.
Its departure from the council means Russia will no longer be a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights.
Its citizens will no longer be able to file applications to the European Court of Human Rights.
Russia was suspended from all rights of representation the day after tens of thousands of troops entered Ukraine on February 24.
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, the President of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, Tiny Kox, and Ms Buric announced the Russian departure.
"As leaders of the Council of Europe we expressed on several occasions our firm condemnation of the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine," they said.
"The Committee of Ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting tomorrow morning 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."
Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal 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.
Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said on Twitter that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe "voted to withdraw Russia from the Council of Europe".
Mr Kuleba said it should have been done in 2014, the year Russia annexed Crimea.
"This is the Assembly that voted to return Russia not long ago," he tweeted. "Now it’s time for de-Putinisation. The final decision is up to the Committee of Ministers."
The Russian Foreign Ministry posted that it was "launching the procedure to exit the Council of Europe" on its Telegram account, saying 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 on the council 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.
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Smoke rising in Kyiv, which mayor Vitali Klitschko says faces a 'difficult and dangerous moment' as Russian forces step up strikes. AFP -
Pope Francis meets visitors holding the Ukrainian flag during his weekly general audience in the Vatican. AFP -
An anti-war protester demonstrates against Russia's invasion of Ukraine in front of the Nato headquarters in Brussels. AFP -
A poster in Saint Petersburg carries the letter Z, a symbol of support for the invasion, and reads: "We are proud of Russia! We are not ashamed!" AFP -
Amid the Ukraine war, there's time for a seaside stroll in Odesa. Reuters -
A child who fled from Ukraine to Belgium waits outside an immigration office in Brussels. EPA -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy receives a standing ovation as he appears via videoconference to make an address to Canada's Parliament. AP -
A woman walks with a bicycle next to a building damaged during the conflict in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha, Donetsk region. Reuters -
A firefighter outside a destroyed apartment building in a residential area of Kyiv. AP -
Ukrainian soldiers pay tribute to Col Valeriy Gudz, who was killed in battle against Russian troops, at a cemetery in the town of Boryspil. AP -
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a housing block hit by shelling in the Sviatoshynsky district, in western Kyiv. AFP -
Two people were killed as a series of powerful explosions rocked residential districts in Kyiv just hours before talks between Ukraine and Russia were set to resume. AFP -
The Met Opera and Chorus performs during 'A Concert For Ukraine' in New York City. AFP -
A worker welds metal at the Interpipe Steel plant in Dnipro, Ukraine. Hundreds of Interpipe’s 10,000 employees have joined the fight against Russia. AP -
A woman is rescued by firefighters from her apartment in a burning building that was hit by artillery shells in Kyiv. AP -
Rescuers work at a building damaged by an air strike, in central Kharkiv, Ukraine. Reuters -
A woman who fled Ukraine to Belgium waits outside an immigration office, in Brussels. EPA -
Cars stuck at the Irpin River bridge, as Russia unleashes a barrage of air strikes on cities across Ukraine. AFP -
A firefighter looks at a section of a Ukrainian Tochka-U missile on a street in the separatist Donetsk region. The Russian military said 20 civilians were killed by a ballistic missile launched by the Ukrainian forces. AP -
Musician Davide Martello plays a piano near the Ukrainian border in Medyka, Poland. More than 1.76 million people have crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border into Poland, the Polish Border Guard reported on March 14. EPA -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, snaps a selfie with a wounded man during a visit at a military hospital after fighting in the Kyiv region.AFP -
Ukrainian soldiers carry rocket-propelled grenades and sniper rifles as they walk towards the city of Irpin, north-west of Kyiv. AFP -
Troops carry an elderly woman on a stretcher across a makeshift bridge as Ukrainians flee Irpin. AFP -
Irina Moprezova, 54, stands in front of a house that was damaged by an air strike in Irpin. AFP -
The flags of Russia and Ukraine are projected on the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, which a representative from the Jerusalem Municipality said is a show of support for diplomatic dialogue between the countries. Reuters -
A person holds a Ukrainian flag during an anti-war demonstration at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. Reuters -
A Ukrainian soldier takes cover as people flee Irpin. AFP -
Ukrainians shelter in an underground train station during the day in Kyiv. EPA -
A Ukrainian serviceman walks carefully with his weapon in the city of Irpin, near Kyiv. AFP -
Ukrainian people flee the city of Irpin, north-west of Kyiv. AFP -
Ukrainian servicemen carry an elderly woman on a stretcher from the city of Irpin. AFP -
A girl plays games on her tablet inside a subway carriage being used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv. AFP -
A Ukrainian firefighter drags a hose inside a large food products storage facility which was destroyed by an air strike on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
Ukrainian troops with a Javelin anti-tank missile on the front line in the northern Kyiv region. Reuters -
A woman carries her dog during an evacuation in Irpin. Reuters -
A Ukrainian woman takes shelter in a metro station during the day in Kyiv. EPA -
A member of the Ukrainian armed forces on patrol in Irpin. Reuters -
A Ukrainian fighter takes cover behind a car in the city of Irpin. AFP -
Firefighters at work after air strikes hit residential buildings in Chernihiv, northern Ukraine. AFP -
A man wounded in an air strike is helped by medical staff in Novoiavorivsk, western Ukraine. Getty -
The ruins of the Ukraine Hotel after recent shelling in Chernihiv. EPA
Cases brought by Russian citizens have piled up at the European court, accounting for 24 per cent 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. Greece, under military rule, walked out in 1969 to avoid being expelled. Athens then rejoined in 1974 after the fall of the junta.
Not using the death penalty is a condition of membership, and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy national security council chief, suggested bringing back capital punishment if Russia left the body.
Mr Medvedev 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 although it never formally abolished it.
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 council of nearly 7 per cent of its annual budget, or about €500 million ($545m).
But Ms Buric told AFP this month she had received "reassuring" signals from member states, including France and Germany, ready to guarantee the organisation's financial sustainability.
