PACE recognizes Russian President Putin as illegitimate, Russian Orthodox Church as propaganda tool
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe considers Russian President Vladimir Putin illegitimate, and recognized the Russian Orthodox Church as an instrument of Russian influence and propaganda, which was recorded in its resolution, said member of the permanent delegation of the Verkhovna Rada to PACE Yevhenia Kravchuk (Servant of the People faction).
"The PACE resolution on Navalny's death was turned into another powerful document to support Ukraine and condemn Putin's aggression. Assembly deputies have just adopted a resolution 'Death of Alexei Navalny and need to resist totalitarian regime of Vladimir Putin and his war against democracy.' Some 87 votes for... The Assembly called: to officially recognize the illegitimacy of Putin as the Russian President... to recognize the Russian Orthodox Church as an instrument of Russian influence and propaganda, which has nothing to do with freedom of religion and expression," Kravchuk said on Facebook on Wednesday.
According to Kravchuk, the PACE resolution notes that since coming to power, Putin has been building a regime whose goal is to wage war against democracy and reshape the European and world order established after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
"The Assembly once again confirmed that under Putin the Russian Federation has turned into a de facto dictatorship... The document recalls that Putin has been in power continuously since 2000, and amendments to the Constitution of Russia, adopted in July 2020 and recognized as illegitimate by the Venice Commission and the Assembly, allow him to remain in office until 2036," Kravchuk said.
She said PACE also called on EU member states to strengthen the sanctions regime against Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, as well as against the Lukashenko regime in Belarus.
In addition, according to the MP, the resolution calls on EU member states to create an international compensation mechanism for victims of Russian aggression against Ukraine, to which frozen Russian assets should be immediately transferred, as well as a special tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
The resolution calls on states to ensure that Russia is held accountable for the systematic use of torture and other forms of ill-treatment suffered by thousands of prisoners in Russia, in particular Ukrainian political prisoners illegally held in Russian prisons since 2014, as well as Ukrainian prisoners of war.
"In addition, the Assembly emphasized that, according to international humanitarian law, Russian oil refineries must be considered legitimate targets of military attacks," Kravchuk said.