The Moscow Times on the extraordinary State Duma plenary meeting (due tomorrow!), with some legal explanations by me. ДАННОЕ СООБЩЕНИЕ (МАТЕРИАЛ) СОЗДАНО И (ИЛИ) РАСПРОСТРАНЕНО ИНОСТРАННЫМ СРЕДСТВОМ МАССОВОЙ ИНФОРМАЦИИ, ВЫПОЛНЯЮЩИМ ФУНКЦИИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА, И (ИЛИ) РОССИЙСКИМ ЮРИДИЧЕСКИМ ЛИЦОМ, ВЫПОЛНЯЮЩИМ ФУНКЦИИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА "Such extraordinary sessions have in the past been used to make foreign policy decisions, said political scientist Yekaterina Schulmann. In 2014, the State Duma gathered for an extraordinary meeting to ratify Crimea's "admission" into Russia following the Ukrainian peninsula’s controversial referendum to join the country. And lawmakers returned from summer vacation in 2008 to vote in favor of recognizing Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. “The State Duma doesn’t cover permission to use troops abroad [or declare] martial law and state of emergency,” Schulmann told The Moscow Times. If the agenda is limited to government reshuffles and legislation, Schulmann said, “it looks a bit humiliating for the Duma – they finished [the spring session], summed up the results and it turns out they haven’t considered the most important issues.” “It looks like they have to finish their homework.” www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/07…m-a78283