Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine — Donetsk and Luhansk — as independent, further inflaming tensions with the West amid fears of a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin said Putin also ordered Russian forces to "maintain peace" in eastern Ukraine, though it was not immediately clear if troops would enter Ukrainian territory. Putin announced the decrees in an address to Russia, in which he rejected the idea of Ukrainian nationhood. Following Putin's decree, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that sanctions any Americans who invest in those two eastern Ukraine regions. For more updates on Russia and Ukraine, click the link in our bio.