Can anything stop Putin’s advance intoUkraine?

After weeks of threats, Putin has ordered troops into eastern Ukraine. Shaun Walker and Patrick Wintour explain what the new stage of the crisis means for the country and its allies.

After an angry, rambling, theatrical security meeting, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, announced that Russia had recognised the independence of two Russian-controlled territories in east Ukraine: the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. Furthermore, he said, the Kremlin would be sending troops on a peacekeeping mission" into the region.