Putin recognizes Donetsk and Lugansk
USA evacuates embassy staff from Ukraine

Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to enter rebel-held Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Ukraine's Donbass border area for peacekeeping operations after signing decrees proclaiming their independence. The decrees and military order sparked international condemnation as U.S. and European allies vowed to respond with sanctions and Volodymyr Selensky, Ukraine's president, accused Russia of violating its sovereignty.
Putin's decision came at a time when forces from the breakaway republics and the Ukrainian military accused each other of heavy shelling along the contact lines. Meanwhile, the flare-up of fighting triggered mass evacuations of Donbass residents to neighboring Russian territories.
Although the Ukrainian president said Ukraine was "not afraid" of Moscow, he nevertheless urged "clear and effective" support from his country's allies, with his government calling for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the issue. Vladimir Selensky said, "Ukraine clearly calls the recent actions of the Russian Federation a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state."
U.S. President Biden signed a decree on sanctions in response to the developments, including prohibiting U.S. citizens from investing in or trading with those republics.
Anthony Blinken, U.S. secretary of state, said the move to recognize the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics as independent is a "clear attack" on Ukraine's sovereignty. "States have an obligation not to recognize a new "state" created by the threat or use of force," he said.
A spokesman for Olaf Scholz said the German chancellor "condemned" the recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, adding that the move was "completely at odds with the Minsk agreement on a peaceful resolution of the conflict in eastern Ukraine."





