Putin granted sweeping new powers to deploy troops abroad amid Ukraine War

The Russian State Duma has passed a law allowing the president of the federation to deploy armed forces abroad to protect Russian citizens, effectively giving President Putin the power to invade other countries.

Chair of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, stated the bill was introduced to protect the rights of Russian citizens across the world in the event of their arrest, detention, criminal or other (what Moscow describes as political) persecution by foreign countries without Russian participation.

He specifically targeted the Western judicial system which, according to him, has become a political tool for their governments and turned into a repressive machine for those who disagree with the European officials.

For the unversed, the Russian State Duma is the lower house of the federal assembly of Russia.

Volodin said, “In these circumstances, it is important to do everything to ensure that our citizens abroad are protected.”

The head of the State Duman Defence Committee Andrey Kartapolov said in addition to protecting the rights of Russian citizens, the proposed legislation would also act as a deterrent for a rampant campaign by rampant Russophobs across the world.

The parliament is awarding new powers to the Russian president amid its war with Ukraine, which has been ongoing since February 2022, when Russia launched a “special military operation” against Ukraine which has since evolved into a prolonged full-scale war.