Russia’s State Duma passes bill allowing Putin to send troops to “protect” Russians arrested abroad

Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has passed a bill that allows the use of the country's military to “protect” Russians who are being persecuted under rulings by foreign or international courts.

Under the bill, Vladimir Putin is given the authority to deploy the army on his own decision to “protect” Russian citizens. Commenting on the law, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that “Western justice has effectively become a tool of repression against those deemed undesirable.”

As follows from the language of the bill, the amendments will apply to Russians who have been arrested or subjected to criminal or other prosecution pursuant to decisions by courts of foreign states, as well as international judicial bodies “whose jurisdiction is not based on an international treaty of the Russian Federation or a UN Security Council resolution adopted in the exercise of the powers provided for under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.”