Vladimir Putin speech on recognising the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics
On 21 February 2022, a televised speech by Russian president Vladimir Putin was broadcast, announcing that the Russian government would recognise the Ukrainian separatist regions of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic as independent. During the speech, which was officially entitled "Address concerning the events in Ukraine" (Russian: Обращение по поводу событий на Украине, romanized: Obrashcheniye po povodu sobyty na Ukraine), Putin also made a number of claims regarding Ukrainian history and Ukrainian domestic politics.