Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, colonizing its southern Crimea region and investing heavily, evidence suggests, in pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region. Russia openly considers Crimea part of its sovereign territory but has previously denied being involved in Donbas. On Monday, Putin announced that he would recognize the two regions that together comprise Donbas, Donetsk and Luhansk, as sovereign states, and honor a request from their “governments” for Russian military support against Ukraine.
In an extensive, meandering speech, Putin repeatedly declared that Ukraine had no right to exist, was a Russian fabrication, and owed its existence entirely to Vladimir Lenin.
Putin made the move after President Joe Biden suggested in remarks to reporters in January that America would not intervene in the event that Putin engaged in a “minor incursion” of Ukraine. Following Putin’s speech, a senior administration official appearedto confirm that the Biden administration considered the move into Donbas a “minor incursion,” as “Russian troops moving into Donbas would not itself be a new step” that would trigger the full range of sanctions Biden had promised in January against any renewed Russian invasion.
