- Category
- World
Russia Authorizes Military Deployments Abroad to Counter Foreign Prosecutions of Its Citizens
- Authors
![Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk]( "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
The Russian State Duma unanimously passed legislation significantly expanding Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s authority to deploy the armed forces abroad, The Moscow Times reported on May 13.
Amending existing federal laws on citizenship and defense, the new measure allows Putin to use the military to “protect” Russian nationals facing arrest, detention, or criminal prosecution in foreign countries.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
The legislation specifically targets cases where Russians are detained by foreign courts acting without Moscow’s participation, or by international tribunals that Russia does not recognize, according to an explanatory note accompanying the bill.
The State Duma press service noted that the bill, which passed its second and third readings with 384 votes in favor and zero opposed, is designed to strengthen protections against “unlawful actions by unfriendly foreign states,” The Moscow Times wrote. Under existing security laws, the president already possessed the power to send troops abroad if foreign decisions contradicted Russian interests or public order. The law reflects a Russian doctrine of using the protection of citizens abroad as justification for military action, previously invoked against Georgia and Ukraine.
The expansion of Putin’s military powers comes amid a series of warnings from NATO intelligence agencies that the Kremlin is actively preparing for a potential war with European nations. Earlier this year, Danish intelligence assessed that Russia could launch a large-scale European conflict within five years, while the German BND (Federal Intelligence Service) warned of potential Crimea-style provocations in the Baltic states, according to The Moscow Times.
In March 2026, US intelligence warned that Putin might escalate the war in Ukraine to the point of a direct clash with NATO, potentially involving nuclear threats. Meanwhile, Dutch intelligence (MIVD) estimated that Moscow needs about a year to amass sufficient forces for a regional conflict, aiming for “political division through limited territorial acquisitions” rather than the total military defeat of NATO, The Moscow Times noted.
Experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) observed in October that Russia’s “phase zero” preparations for such a conflict have already begun. The ISW pointed to the reorganization of military districts on Russia’s western border, the creation of new military bases near Finland, and a sharp uptick in hybrid warfare tactics, including GPS jamming, sabotage, and airspace provocations, The Moscow Times wrote.
The expansion of Putin’s overt military authority comes as Moscow simultaneously intensifies its covert hybrid operations across the continent. According to a recent report, Russian security services have escalated a campaign of targeted assassinations and sabotage across Europe, increasingly relying on organized criminal proxies to carry out the attacks.
Citing Western intelligence officials, the report notes that European law enforcement agencies have recently foiled multiple assassination plots directed by Russian military intelligence, including thwarted attacks against a Russian human rights activist in France, a Ukrainian military official in Germany, and dissidents in Lithuania.
Officials indicate these same proxy networks are actively executing the broader wave of arson and sabotage currently targeting European infrastructure, underscoring a politically authorized campaign to destabilize the West.
Discuss this article:
-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")