10 things you need to know today: February 22, 2022

Putin sends troops into breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, Trump's Truth Social platform launches, and more

Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(Image credit: Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images)

1. Putin sends troops into breakaway Ukraine regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered Russian troops into two territories in eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russian-backed separatists, hours after recognizing their independence. President Biden responded by signing an executive order Monday blocking trade and investment by Americans in the two separatist enclaves. The U.S. is expected to announce new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday. The White House said Putin's action "refutes Russia's claimed commitment to diplomacy, and undermines Ukraine's sovereignty." The U.S. and its allies expressed concerns that Russia might use skirmishes in the Donetsk and Luhansk separatist regions as a pretext for a broader invasion. The U.S. says Putin's moves violate a 2015 peace agreement aiming to return the two regions to Ukrainian control.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.