Barbie Latza Nadeau, Allison QuinnFebruary 21, 2022, 8:31 AM·4 min readIn this article:

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• Vladimir PutinPresident of Russia

President Putin has unilaterally declared that two chunks of Eastern Ukraine should be considered independent states in a dramatic escalation that many fear could lead to all-out war.

In an address to his nation on Monday, the Russian president formally announced the “the immediate recognition” of the pro-Kremlin regions of Luhansk and Donetsk—which stretch over 6,500 miles—as independent of Ukraine.

The move follows a spectacularly bizarre meeting by Russia’s Security Council, where Putin appeared like a mob boss testing his underlings, as officials, one after another, spoke out in favor of recognizing the self-proclaimed republics.

It was another grotesque spectacle on a day when the drum beats of war grew deafening. The aggressive and totally unjustified territorial claim followed a series of apparent false-flag operations where the Russians tried to blame Ukrainian forces for a number of attacks.

The Russian military claimed that five so-called “saboteurs” were assassinated early Monday after crossing into Russia from Ukraine.

The report mirrors almost exactly what the Biden administration warned could be “false flags” or trigger points that Russia will respond to as a pretext to launch its invasion.

“As a result of clashes, five people who violated the Russian border from a group of saboteurs were killed,” the Russian military said in a statement, according to Reuters. No Russians died in the alleged border infraction. Russia also said Ukraine had destroyed a border outpost used by the FSB (Federal Security Service) in early morning shelling.

Russia has also claimed in recent days that Ukrainian forces are staging attacks on Luhansk and Donetsk.

Ukraine has denied any such incursion or attacks took place. The Minister of Foreign affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, took to Twitter Monday to dismiss the claims with big red ‘X’s denying an attack on Donetsk or Luhansk, or that it sent saboteurs over the Russian border, or that it shelled Russian territory or border crossings.

(editor：)