President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused the UN and other international organisations as well as Western media of anti-Russia bias.
The Russian leader said that after he sent troops to Ukraine on February 24, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Council of Europe and other rights groups “had begun demonstrating their cynical bias”.
“This meant that these structures were not able to fulfil their stated objectives,” Putin said, speaking during an annual meeting of the Kremlin’s human rights council.
“Due to their obvious bias, Russia was forced to give up membership to a number of these organisations,” he said in televised remarks.
“We see that the doctrine of human rights is used to destroy the sovereignty of states, to justify Western political, financial, economic and ideological domination,” he added.
He also accused foreign media of spreading “despicable fakes” and “blatant lies” about Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine.
After sending troops to Ukraine, Moscow adopted laws imposing sentences of up to 15 years in prison for spreading information about the military deemed false by the authorities.
Early in Putin’s rule the Kremlin’s human rights council included a number of critical voices but all of them have been sidelined after an unprecedented crackdown.
Most high-profile Putin critics are either in prison or have left the country and observers say the new iteration of Putin’s rights council firmly toes the Kremlin’s line.
