MOSCOW, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- President Dmitry Medvedev has approved an amended law on defense allowing the use of Russian armed forces abroad, the Kremlin said on Monday.

    According to the Interfax news agency, the amended law stipulates that Russian armed forces can be used abroad for: rebuffing armed attacks against Russian military units or other troops stationed outside the Russian territory; rebuffing or preventing armed attacks against foreign countries by proper request; protecting Russian citizens abroad from armed attacks; fighting piracy and ensuring navigation safety.

    The bill of the amended law was passed by Russia's lower and upper houses of the parliament, the State Duma and the Federation Council, respectively, on Oct. 23 and Oct. 30.

    The previous law only allowed the president to send armed forces to fight terrorism on foreign territories.

    Medvedev submitted the bill to parliament on Aug. 10, days after the first anniversary of a brief war with Georgia last year.

    Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war when Georgia tried to retake South Ossetia, which with Abkhazia broke away from Georgian rule during a war in the 1990s that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.

    In response to Georgia's move last year, Moscow sent in troops to drive Georgian forces out of the region and recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states two weeks after the conflict ended.