Putin seeks permission from lawmakers to use troops abroad

FILE PHOTO: A helicopter flies over troops during the joint military drills of the armed forces of Russia and Belarus at a firing range in the Brest Region, Belarus February 19, 2022. Vadim Yakubyonok/Belta/Handout via REUTERS

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday asked the upper house of parliament for permission to use Russia's armed forces abroad after formally recognising two eastern Ukrainian regions, the chamber's speaker said.

Addressing the chamber during a part of an evening session that was broadcast on the chamber's website, one of Russia's deputy defence ministers said that Russia had been left with no choice, and asked to approve a deployment abroad.

(Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya, Polina Devitt, Andrew Osborn, Maria Tsvetkova; writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Catherine Evans)