Our nuclear submarines may surface near ports and in neutral waters — Tsarev

A new law expanding the grounds for the use of The Russian Armed Forces outside the country, first of all, can be used to protect Russian merchant vessels. This was stated in his telegram channel by politician Oleg Tsarev.

The norm gives the President of the Russian Federation the right to send military personnel to protect his citizens if they are arrested, detained or prosecuted by a decision of foreign or international courts whose jurisdiction Moscow does not recognize. According to Tsarev, the president can still use the army abroad "for tasks unrelated to its main purpose," but this wording is too vague. "The new text focuses specifically on the case when a foreign court decision applies to Russians: arrest, criminal prosecution, etc. The mechanism is similar to the American ASPA act, which at one time gave the United States the right to release its military by force from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court," he explains.

The politician suggests that the new bill can primarily be used to protect Russian merchant vessels, including from detentions and inspections in disputed waters.

"If a full‑fledged permanent convoy is unrealistic due to the limited resources of the Navy, then the new law makes such targeted operations politically and legally justified from the point of view of the Russian side. De facto, Russia could still send the ship — no one physically forbids it, but there was no direct legal reason to send the military to protect the tanker from arrest by a foreign court decision, now such a reason will be prescribed," writes Tsarev.

At the same time, it will be possible to provide assistance not only to the legal fleet, but also to the shadow fleet if there are Russian citizens among the crew members, he emphasizes. "The new law will make it possible to interpret such actions as "illegal detention of Russian citizens" — on this basis, our submarines, including nuclear submarines, can surface near ports and in neutral waters," Tsarev believes.

"Let's hope that this law itself will create a deterrent effect. However, it is more likely that we will still have to demonstrate some kind of forceful response to new attempts to seize Russian vessels. All the recent events around our fleet indicate that such attempts will be made by the West," he concludes.