Russia’s Federal Assembly and the Use of Armed Force Abroad
Journal: Russian Politics
Year: 2026

Abstract This article explores three cases where the Kremlin has used military force outside the Russian Federation – the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, the 2015 military campaign in Syria, and the 2022 full-scale invasion of sovereign Ukraine. The formal patterns of decision-making for military intervention and war fit that of a personalist regime, relying on advice from a smaller circle of decision-makers with background from the security services. Decisions are made without