Russia's two proxy statelets are not recognised internationally. In fact Moscow only recognised the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics two days before it invaded Ukraine in February. Last week the president of Kazakhstan said in front of President Vladimir Putin that he had no intention of recognising them.

Moscow city council announced on Wednesday that it had changed the address of the US embassy in the Russian capital, from Bolshoi Devyatinsky Lane to 1 Donetsk People's Republic Square.