Odd to even bother with these formal declarations - as if anyone expects anything more than total barbarism from Russia anyways. Functionally - what does this accomplish, withdrawing from an anti-torture agreement? Why even waste the calories, if you’re Russia. It kind of looks like yet more performative tantrums. OOOh - we’re super serious, guys. You better give us what we want.
Of course - it’s a package deal. This war is about incompatible ways of living. Russia’s governing principle is “Do As I Say, Or I’ll Hurt You”. This permeates every aspect of Russian life - The Strong prey on The Weak. As it should be, that is the natural, old order of the universe. Theft is expected appropriate to your station in life, corruption and abuse of power is precisely the point of having it. There’s a saying in Russian life that “The man who doesn’t steal, steals from his family”. If YOU don’t steal, someone else will, so to not steal is naive and idiotic.
And it’s been this way FOREVER. Abusive cruelty is a feature, not a bug. Empathy and law are indulgent playthings for feckless Western pussies who can’t endure suffering like STRONK RUSSIANS. All that actually matters is power to steal and kill. Since even long before the days of the Mongol Horde. Russian society is a 1,000 year experiment on institutional cruelty smashing the faintest notion of individual rights or a law based society. You get what you take, not the other way around. And if you have the “strength” to hold it, it’s yours.
The population of Russia are descendants of passive serfs who DIDN’T stand up to the local warlord for centuries. If your forebears were the kind of people to stand up and say “hey, this isn’t right - stop stealing from us”, well then they end up with their head on a pole at the edge of town and you never get born. The russians who live today are the meek, submissive, goblin offspring of people who kept a low, obedient profile for centuries. Do as “They” say, or you die. Attacking your neighbors and beating your kids are in the same lifestyle brochure. Cruelty is fine - expected, even - at home and abroad.