The State Duma of Russia, the lower house of parliament, will examine a bill that authorizes the deployment of troops abroad for the defense of Russian citizens, according to an official source quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax.
The government commission for legislation agreed to forward this project, which will introduce amendments to two federal laws, to the lower house of the Russian Parliament, reports Agerpres.
The bill “provides, among other things, the possibility of extraterritorial use, by the decision of the President of the Russian Federation, of military units for the defense of Russian citizens”, according to the cited source.
Its purpose aims at “defending the rights of citizens in case of arrest, detention, criminal prosecution or of another nature by the decision of foreign courts”.
In April 2023, Russian authorities introduced a change to the federal law “On Security”, which allows the head of state “to take measures for the defense of Russia and its citizens in case foreign and international organizations take measures or adopt actions that contradict the interests of the Russian Federation”.
This amendment did not specify what means the president could use to fulfill what was stipulated by the law, something that becomes evident in this new law.
Russian leaders claim that the current military campaign in Ukraine, which has already lasted for more than four years, aims to guarantee the security of ethnic Russians allegedly persecuted by the authorities in Kiev.
However, Moscow has faced the fact that many Russian-speaking residents in the east and south of Ukraine have rejected the Russian military intervention and have joined Kiev or fled abroad.
In addition, many Russian and foreign experts believe that the real objective of the Kremlin was to create a land corridor to the annexed Crimea peninsula, to deprive Ukraine of access to the sea and to install a puppet government in Kiev that would turn its back on the West.