Ukraine crisis: Russia recognising separatist-held regions is strategic for Putin, here is why

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin, on February 21, signed decrees recognising two controversial separatist-held regions, the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic – a move condemned by global leaders.

This comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised “a swift and firm response” from the US and allies if Russia moves to recognise Ukraine’s breakaway regions.

Here is why the recognition of the regions is so significant:

Intense fighting in 2014 after Russian-backed rebels seized government buildings in towns and cities across eastern Ukraine resulted in portions of the Donbas region's eastern Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts (administrative divisions) going to separatists. In the same year, Russia also annexed Crimea from Ukraine.

The separatist-controlled areas in Donbas came to be known as the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) and the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

In 2015, the Minsk II agreement, which banned heavy weapons near the Line of Contact that separates the Ukrainian government from the separatist-controlled areas, resulted in an unstable ceasefire. The agreement was named after the capital of Belarus where it was concluded.

Since 2014, more than 14,000 people have died from the conflict and 1.5 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine.

The situation remains polarised to this day as the Ukrainian government calls separatist forces invaders and occupiers.