Putin recognises 2 Ukraine regions as independent, sends troops

TIL Desk/World/Moscow/ Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced the recognition of two separatist republics in eastern Ukraine — Donetsk and Lugansk — as independent.The announcement has raised concerns of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Ukraine is a US colony with ‘a puppet regime’,’ Putin said in a televised address. After the announcement, Putin ordered to send Russian Armed Forces to Ukraine breakaway regions.

Putin justified his decision in a speech blaming NATO for the current crisis and calling the US-led alliance an existential threat to Russia. He charged that Ukraine had inherited Russia’s historic lands and after the Soviet collapse was used by the West to contain Russia.

“I consider it necessary to take a long-overdue decision: To immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic,” Putin said.

Afterward he signed decrees recognizing the Donetsk and Luhansk regions’ independence, eight years after fighting erupted between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces, and called on lawmakers to approve measures paving the way for military support.