The Daily Populous Tuesday May 26th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by kyivindependent.com and submitted by mvanigan

Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 25 signed a bill effectively authorizing him to invade foreign countries under the guise of "protection of Russian citizens" abroad.

The legislation, passed by Russia's State Duma on May 13, enables the Russian president to order troop deployments abroad to "protect" Russian citizens facing arrest, detention, trial, or other perceived persecution by foreign nations and international courts.

The news comes amid mounting warnings by Western officials that Russia may launch an attack against NATO in the coming years, a scenario seen as increasingly realistic since the all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russian lawmakers have framed the legislation as part of an effort to "counter the campaign of rampant Russophobia that continues abroad."

Andrey Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defense Committee, linked the bill to the case of Alexander Butyagin, a Russian archeologist who was detained in Poland for several months over illegal excavations in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Moscow has repeatedly threatened its neighbors under the pretext of protecting Russians living abroad. The same argument has been used as justification for Russian aggression against Ukraine since 2014.

Suns_Funs on May 25th, 2026 at 17:05 UTC »

Statistically speaking he would have saved a lot more Russians, if he would have stopped "saving" Russians.

Callabrantus on May 25th, 2026 at 16:48 UTC »

Check out the flabby arms in that flex.

HelloSlowly on May 25th, 2026 at 16:48 UTC »

Lmao this miserable cunt and his lip service all while he throws his opponents and dissidents in jail, out of roofs or of course there’s the odd poison frog method but sure Jan. “Protect his citizens”

Meanwhile you’ll have some useful idiot who’ll read this and go, oh he protects his people so well.