Editor’s Note: This op-ed was published by Atlantic Council. It is republished here with permission. Almost exactly eight years to the day since he first ordered the invasion of Crimea, Vladimir Putin struck another blow in his war against Ukrainian statehood on February 21 by officially recognizing the two so-called separatist republics of eastern Ukraine as independent states. Putin announced his decision to recognize the republics following a day of political theater in the Kremlin. The fir