A military truck drives along a street after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine. REUTERS

A tank drives along a street after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine. REUTERS

Russian President Vladimir Putin signs documents, including a decree recognising two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent entities, during a ceremony in Moscow, Russia. Sputnik via REUTERS

Military vehicles drive along a street after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine following the recognition of their independence in Donetsk, Ukraine. REUTERS

A tank drives along a street after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine following the recognition of their independence. REUTERS

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses the nation after a meeting of the Security and Defense Council after Russia’s decision to formally recognize two Moscow-backed regions of eastern Ukraine as independent, in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 22, 2022. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya speaks as United Nations Security Council meets after Russia recognized two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent entities, in New York City, U.S. REUTERS

ทหารยูเครน – Ukraine’s Military Forces servicemen sit in the back of military truck in the Donetsk region town of Avdiivka, on the eastern Ukraine front-line with Russia-backed separatists. AFP