The prime minister of Latvia says Russian troops and tanks have now moved into eastern regions of Ukraine which Putin has recognized as "independent". The NATO member country cited intelligence sources monitoring movements on the ground: "According to the information at my disposal, Putin is moving additional forces and tanks into the occupied Donbas territories," Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Krišj?nis Kari?š told CNN on Wednesday. "By any definition that's a crossing of a sovereign territory into a neighboring country."

The Latvian PM confirmed that additional troops continue pouring in to the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk republics: "According to the information at my disposal, this is exactly what we're seeing," he underscored.

His words follow Biden the day prior stating that this marks "the beginning of a Russian invasion" - after there's been some level of confusion over just how the administration is defining "invasion of Ukraine". Despite strong rhetoric, Biden's relatively weak and very limited sanctions announced Tuesday do not actually suggest Washington really sees what's happened so far as in truth an "invasion". 

Widely circulating social media videos - while unconfirmed - seem to also point to additional tanks and troops moving into the breakaway republics. The Kremlin is borrowing from the West's "humanitarian intervention" playbook and calling these "peacekeeping" forces.