KHARKIV, Ukraine — In an almost-hourlong address that alternated between furious anti-Western rhetoric and the excoriation of Ukraine as a puppet nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognized two Ukrainian breakaway republics as independent, a move certain to further incite animosities with the West and escalate fears of an invasion that could ignite fighting reminiscent of World War II and redraw the map of Eastern Europe.
Putin’s speech to the Russian people drew swift rebuke and condemnation from Washington and across European capitals. President Joe Biden and the European Union announced economic sanctions aimed at cutting trade and business with the breakaway enclaves. By day’s end, with Moscow ordering troops into the republics, it appeared diplomacy was failing and the region was veering inexorably toward war.
Sitting back in his chair behind a wooden desk equipped with a bank of telephones and a computer, Putin began a speech that detailed Ukraine’s origins and its territorial evolution across history. He said, in essence, Ukraine was a Bolshevik-constructed amalgam created entirely by Russia.
