As Russia Recognizes Separatists, Ukrainian Soldiers Speak Of And Anticipate Escalation

Detonations of mortar fire could be heard in the distance as Maryan Kushnir from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service visited the trenches of Ukrainian soldiers in Novoluhanske in the Donetsk region on February 22, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized territories controlled by Russia-backed separatists as independent states. Ukrainian soldiers say this paves the way for the deployment of Russian troops and a repetition of 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea.