EXPLAINER: The story behind Ukraine’s separatist regions

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognized the independence of Moscow-backed rebel regions in eastern Ukraine, a move that will further fuel tensions with the West amid fears of Russian invasion. Putin’s move Monday follows days of heightened tensions in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, where Ukrainian forces are locked in a nearly eight-year conflict with Russia-backed separatists that has left more than 14,000 people dead. Putin’s recognition of the rebel-held territories’ independence effectively shatters a 2015 peace deal for eastern Ukraine. Putin said Moscow would now sign friendship treaties with the rebel territories, a move that could pave the way for Russia to openly support them with troops and weapons.