Russia said it considers its suspension from the UN Human Rights Council today to be "illegal", according to the foreign ministry in Moscow.
Russia considers the vote to suspend it, taken by the UN General Assembly earlier, to be "illegal and politically motivated, aimed at ostentatiously punishing a sovereign UN member state that pursues an independent domestic and foreign policy", the foreign ministry said.
The Russian ministry has therefore decided on an "early termination" of its seat on the rights council.
"Unfortunately, under the current conditions, the Council is practically monopolised by a group of states that use it for their own opportunistic purposes," the ministry added.
It was the second ever suspension of a country from the council. Libya was the first, in 2011.
Moscow has been an intermittent member of the rights council since 2006. Ukraine is also a member.
The UN General Assembly had suspended Russia from its Human Rights Council over reports of "gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights" by invading Russian troops in Ukraine.
The push - co-sponsored by Ireland - garnered 93 votes in favour, while 24 countries voted no and 58 countries abstained.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar hailed it as a "significant step" and said the world had "united against the barbarity being inflicted on Ukraine".
Ireland's mission at the UN said on Twitter: "This is the right thing to do. Russia must be held accountable for the suffering unleashed on Ukraine."
The Department of Foreign Affairs said: "Ireland today co-sponsored a resolution suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council, which was successfully adopted today in the UN General Assembly.
"Russia cannot continue to sit on the Human Rights Council while making a mockery of its responsibilities as a member."
A two-thirds majority of voting members - abstentions do not count - was needed to suspend Russia from the 47-member council.
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Russia was in its second year of a three-year term on the Geneva-based council, which cannot make legally binding decisions.
Its decisions send important political messages, however, and it can authorise investigations.
Meanwhile, European Council chief Charles Michel today backed a proposal to release an additional €500 million to provide arms for Ukraine.
"Once swiftly approved this will bring to 1.5 billion euros the EU support already provided for military equipment for #Ukraine," Mr Michel tweeted, also thanking EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell for proposing the extra funding.
The proposal was agreed by the 27 EU nations at ambassador level. The EU has already agreed a €1 billion package to provide arms for Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has stepped up calls for financial sanctions crippling enough to force Moscow to end the war as its officials rushed to evacuate civilians from cities and towns in the east before an anticipated major Russian offensive there.
The democratic world must stop buying Russian oil and cut off Russian banks from the international finance system, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
He added that that economic concerns should not come above punishment for civilian deaths that Ukraine and many of its Western allies have condemned as war crimes.
"Once and for all, we can teach Russia and any other potential aggressors that those who choose war always lose," Mr Zelensky said in an address to the Greek parliament.
"Those who blackmail Europe with economic and energy crisis always lose."
Russia denies attacking civilians in Ukraine. Its UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Tuesday that while Bucha was under Russian control "not a single civilian suffered from any kind of violence".
Meanwhile, NATO members have agreed to strengthen support to Ukraine and are providing a wide range of weapon systems to the country, according to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
It followed a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels today.
Mr Stoltenberg said "it was a clear message from the meeting today that allies should do more and are ready to do more to provide more equipment".
He told reporters NATO members "realise and recognise the urgency".
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba earlier said he expected NATO members to send Kyiv the weapons it needs but insisted they had to act quickly before Russia launches another major offensive.
"Either you help us now - and I'm speaking about days, not weeks, or your help will come too late, and many people will die, many civilians will lose their homes, many villages will be destroyed. Exactly because this help came too late," Mr Kuleba said after the meeting in Brussels.
"I have no doubts that Ukraine will have weapons necessary to fight. The question is the timeline. This discussion is not about the list of weapons. The discussion is about the timeline," he told journalists.
Ukraine is pushing the West to increase its arms supplies with heavier weaponry including air defence systems, artillery, armoured vehicles and jets, as Moscow refocuses its offensive on the east of the country.
"The battle for Donbas (in eastern Ukraine) will remind you of the Second World War with large operations manoeuvres, the involvement of thousands of tanks, armoured vehicles, planes, artillery," Mr Kuleba said.
"Russia has its plan, we have ours - and the outcome of this battle will be decided on the battlefield."
Asked about video footage circulating on social media of Ukrainian soldiers allegedly shooting a Russian captive, Mr Kuleba said "there might be isolated incidents", but that Ukraine's army "observes the rules of warfare" and that violations would be investigated.
However, he added, observers failed to understand how it feels after seeing pictures of atrocities on the battlefield compared to "knowing that the person you know was raped four days in a row".
"This is not an excuse to those who violate the rules of warfare on either side of the frontline, but there are some things which you simply can't understand, I'm sorry."
Alongside arms deliveries to Ukraine, the West has imposed a barrage of sanctions on Moscow aimed at battering Russia's economy.
The G7 foreign ministers, who have been meeting on the sidelines of a NATO gathering in Brussels this week, said those responsible for "heinous acts and atrocities, including any attacks targeting civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure" would be held accountable and prosecuted.
"We welcome and support the ongoing work to investigate and gather evidence of these and other potential war crimes and crimes against humanity," they said.
The ministers also called for Russia to suspend its offensive in Ukraine immediately and warned against the use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
Russian claims on talks are 'propaganda' - Ukraine
Separately, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Ukraine had presented Moscow with a draft peace deal containing "unacceptable" elements at variance with a previous agreement, comments that Kyiv dismissed as "pure propaganda".
The Kremlin has said talks with Ukraine are not progressing as rapidly as it would like, and has accused the West of trying to derail negotiations by raising war crimes allegations against Russian troops in Ukraine, which Moscow denies.
Mr Lavrov said today that Ukraine had presented a draft agreement yesterday that deviated from proposals both sides' negotiators had agreed on.
Ukraine's new draft, according to the Russian politician, said the status of Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, should be raised at a meeting between the two countries' presidents.
It also said Ukraine could hold military drills with foreign countries without receiving Russia's permission, something Moscow disagrees with.
Kyiv says it is committed to the talks but is not willing togive up its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak, one of Ukraine's negotiators, said Mr Lavrov's comments should be seen as a tactic to undermine Ukraine or divert attention from war crime accusations against Russian troops.
Zelensky accuses Kremlin of trying to cover up atrocities
The democratic world must reject Russian oil and completely block Russian banks from the international finance system, President Zelensky said in his daily video address early today.
Mr Zelensky also said Kremlin forces were trying to cover up evidence of atrocities.
"We have information that the Russian military has changed its tactics and is trying to remove people who have been killed from streets and basements ... this is just an attempt to hide the evidence and nothing more," Mr Zelensky said, but did not provide evidence.
Russia's six-week-long invasion has so far forced over four million to flee abroad, killed or injured thousands, left a quarter of the population homeless, turned cities into rubble and prompted a slew of Western restrictions on Russian elites and the economy.
Mr Zelensky will have talks in Kyiv tomorrow with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Sergii Nykyforov said on national television.
He said other details of the talks would not be announced for security reasons. A European Union spokesman said on Tuesday that the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, would also travel to Kyiv this week.
Washington yesterday announced measures, including sanctions on President Vladimir Putin's two adult daughters and Russia's Sberbank, and a ban on Americans investing in Russia.
The United States also wants Russia expelled from the Group of 20 major economies forum and will boycott a number of meetings at the G20 in Indonesia if Russian officials show up.
But the head of Ukraine's presidential office Andriy Yermak said late last night that its allies must go further.
"Sanctions against Russia must be ruinous enough for us to end this terrible war," he said.
