Vladimir Putin at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2009|World Economic Forum|CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Merely hours after signing decrees recognizing the independence of Ukraine’s Moscow-backed territories, Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent troops into separatist-held portions of eastern Ukraine for a "peacekeeping" mission, according to the Kremlin. It remains unclear whether the movement of troops has signaled the start of a Ukrainian invasion that Western leaders have been warning against for weeks, who opine that Russia’s decision might be the start of a bigger military assault against Ukraine. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry claimed it detected hundreds of ceasefire violations on Sunday, based on new satellite pictures that showed increased activity amongst Russian forces near Ukraine's north-eastern border.
