Russia waited until the Olympics were over, then moved troops into the Donbass region of Ukraine, allegedly to secure peace in the Ukrainian breakaway provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Separatists in Luhansk claimed Ukrainian armored vehicles breached their borders, killing five people. Ukraine denied its forces were in the area.
Vladimir Putin signed a decree officially recognizing the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics as sovereign nations, according to Russia Today.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Putin says Russia was told there would be no eastward expansion by NATO. However, no legally binding agreements exist says NATO officials.
TRANSLATED: Vladimir Putin’s address to the nation on Monday.
NATO map courtesy Der Spiegel.
