Russian upper house approves bill allowing military to protect citizens arrested abroad

The upper chamber of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, at its plenary session on Wednesday, passed a bill that allows the use of the Russian armed forces to protect citizens in case of their arrest, criminal prosecution or other court action by foreign countries, TASS reports.
 
In line with the document, the Russian president is allowed to send Russian military units to defend Russians from being tried by foreign and international courts, whose authority is not recognized by Russia.
 
Besides, the document prescribes Russian governmental bodies, upon instructions from the president, to take measures to protect Russian citizens if they are being arrested, criminally prosecuted or face other forms of court action from other states.