Russia recognises Ukraine-held areas as part of rebel areas

Moscow: Russia announced Tuesday that its recognition of independence for areas in eastern Ukraine extends to territory currently held by Ukrainian forces — further raising the stakes amid Western fears that a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine is imminent.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia has recognised the rebel regions’ independence “in borders that existed when they proclaimed” their independence in 2014. Ukrainian forces later reclaimed control of large parts of both regions during a nearly eight-year conflict that has killed over 14,000 people.

The announcement comes a day after Russia said it would recognize the independence — but didn’t say exactly what it considered the borders of those areas to be. The move was widely seen in the West to presage a Russian invasion.

Russia has amassed an estimated 150,000 troops near Ukraine in recent weeks, and Western leaders have warned Moscow planned to attack. Western leaders have denounced the move and said they are preparing to announce sanctions. Late Monday, convoys of armoured vehicles were seen rolling across the separatist-controlled territories.

It wasn’t immediately clear if they were Russian. Russian officials haven’t yet acknowledged any troop deployments to the rebel east, but Vladislav Brig, a member of the separatist local council in Donetsk, told reporters that the Russian troops already had moved in, taking up positions in the region’s north and west.

Ever since the conflict erupted weeks after Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Moscow of backing the separatists with troops and weapons, the charges it has denied, saying that Russians who fought in the east were volunteers. Putin’s move Monday formalises Russia’s hold on the regions and gives it a free hand to deploy its forces there. —AP