The Russian government has submitted a bill to the State Duma that would broaden the grounds for using the army outside the country. The document would allow the president to deploy the armed forces and other state bodies to “protect” Russian citizens if they are arrested or prosecuted abroad under decisions issued by courts Moscow considers illegitimate. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the initiative would be reviewed as a priority.
The draft lists three categories of such courts: international bodies not based on a treaty with Russia, courts not created by a UN Security Council resolution, and foreign courts or bodies empowered by other states to prosecute Russians without Moscow’s participation. The article notes that this refers in particular to warrants issued by the International Criminal Court and to possible tribunals on war crimes in Ukraine.
The amendments would be made to the laws On Citizenship and On Defense. By presidential decision, state authorities would be required to take “necessary measures to protect” Russian citizens, while the head of state would gain an additional formal basis for the extraterritorial use of the military.
Lawyer Gleb Bogush described the initiative as an example of a legal norm intended primarily not for real enforcement, but for creating “information noise,” sending signals, and discrediting the very idea of international justice.
Lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov said the bill appeared to be a response to efforts to create an international tribunal over Russia’s crimes against Ukraine. In his view, the document functions as psychological pressure on those who might initiate criminal cases, even though Moscow has already used force abroad without such a law.
Experts stress that any military or other coercive action on the territory of another state without that state’s consent violates international law, including the principles of non-interference and the prohibition on the use of force. In their view, the bill is aimed chiefly at intimidation and political signaling amid investigations into war crimes and human rights abuses.