Russian president Vladimir Putin pledged to sign an order recognising the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) in a TV address on Monday (21 February), escalating a crisis that could lead to the biggest war in Europe since 1945.
Putin made the announcement in a rambling and belligerent speech about history in which he claimed Ukraine was not a real country, but one "created" by Russia in the 1920s on "ancient Russian lands".
"So you [Ukraine] want de-communisatio...
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