Russia’s parliament has passed a new law allowing President Vladimir Putin to deploy the country’s armed forces abroad to protect Russian citizens facing prosecution by foreign or international courts in which Moscow does not participate.
The law, which passed its first reading last month, was adopted by the State Duma on Wednesday with 384 votes in favor, none against and no abstentions.
Under the new law, the Russian president can authorize state bodies and the military to take measures aimed at protecting citizens subject to arrest, criminal prosecution or other legal proceedings initiated by foreign courts or international tribunals that Russia does not recognize.
The State Duma said the measure was designed to shield Russians from what it described as “unlawful actions by unfriendly foreign states.”
Among the international tribunals in which Russia does not participate is the International Criminal Court in the Hague, which has issued arrest warrants for senior Russian officials, including Putin.
Both Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova are wanted for war crimes.
Pretext for conflict
The new legislation has sparked concern among analysts and Western officials, who say Moscow has repeatedly used the protection of Russian citizens and Russian speakers abroad as justification for military intervention—including in Ukraine and Georgia.
In its annual threat assessment released in March, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned that the greatest danger to the United States could stem from “an escalatory spiral” arising either from the war in Ukraine or another conflict that could trigger direct hostilities between Russia and NATO powers, including the risk of nuclear exchange.
Dutch intelligence agencies have also warned that Russia could be capable within roughly a year of assembling forces for a regional conflict focused on limited territorial gains and political destabilization rather than a full-scale war against NATO, according to reporting by The Moscow Times.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said last year that Russia had already entered what it described as a “phase zero” stage of preparation for possible future conflict with the West, citing the expansion of military infrastructure near the Finnish border and an increase in hybrid warfare activities across Europe.