On Monday, May 25, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing Russia to deploy its armed forces abroad to “protect Russian citizens” facing arrest, detaining or other prosecution in foreign courts or international tribunals whose authority Moscow does not recognize.
According to the Russian state outlet Interfax, the law enters into force 10 days after its official publication.
The legislation covers cases where Russian citizens face arrest, detention, or any other kind of criminal prosecution by foreign courts or by international judicial bodies whose jurisdiction is not based on an international treaty with Russia or a UN Security Council Resolution.
The State Duma passed the bill on May 13, with 381 of 450 deputies voting in favor, with no abstentions or votes against. The Federation Council approved the bill on May 20.
In March 2023, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova – for the “war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”
More than two years on, tens of thousands of Ukrainian children remain missing, separated from their families and trafficked to Russia.
The Kremlin has previously stated that it rejects the ICC’s rulings as illegitimate.