The Daily Populous Thursday May 14th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by politico.eu and submitted by Nepridiprav16

Putin has 14 days to sign the bill into law.

Moscow has partly justified its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the need to protect Russian-speaking Ukrainians, whom it considers compatriots. The Kremlin claimed Kyiv had been abusing their rights for years, and is still demanding the reinstatement of the Russian language and the Russian church in Ukraine at the state level as a part of any peace agreement.

Kyiv sees the new legislation as normalizing Russian expansionism.

"This decision can be described in two words: aggressive lawlessness," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told POLITICO. "By granting himself the unlimited right to use Russian occupation forces outside the country under the pretext of supposedly protecting Russian citizens, Putin is effectively admitting that aggression has become the norm of Russian state policy."

This year, various European intelligence agencies have labeled Russia as a direct threat to NATO and the West as well.

EU defense officials and lawmakers fear the Kremlin could view the next year or two as the ideal time to test the West's commitment to the military alliance. That window will remain open as long as Donald Trump is in the White House and Europe fails to reinforce its military capacity, according to three EU politicians with direct knowledge of the discussions, interviewed by POLITICO earlier this month.

Last month Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that the Baltic countries might become Moscow's next target if Ukraine doesn't get enough support. Although that warning was later dismissed by Estonia, the Duma's new bill was seen in Kyiv as confirming the "further militarization of Russian policy," Ukraine's Tykhyi said Wednesday.

"The current composition of the State Duma of the Russian Federation has decided to go down in history as a factory for legalizing political adventures, occupation and terror."

Foe117 on May 13rd, 2026 at 17:52 UTC »

According to the bill, Moscow will be legally allowed to send troops abroad to protect Russian citizens who are arrested, investigated, put on trial or abused in any way by foreign states, international courts and organizations that Russia doesn't belong to.

"Western justice has turned into a repressive machine for cracking down on decisions that disagree with those imposed by European officials. In these circumstances, it is important to do everything to protect our citizens abroad," said Viacheslav Volodin, chairman of Russia’s State Duma parliament.

They've been doing this alreadly to anyone not under the nuclear umbrella.

Koekoes_se_makranka on May 13rd, 2026 at 17:42 UTC »

Lmao ok, as if he wasn’t doing it already

LifeAcanthopterygii6 on May 13rd, 2026 at 17:42 UTC »

Wow! To this day I thought they would never invade a foreign country...