This map shows rebels' expansive claims to Ukraine that Putin just threw his weight behind

• Russia announced troops would be sent to parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by separatists.
• This week Russia recognized the separatist-held territory as two independent nations.

US President Joe Biden last week said he was "convinced" Russia plans to invade Ukraine, with an attack potentially going as far as the capital, Kyiv.

Days later, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his government would recognize two separatist regions of Ukraine held by rebels who have been supported by Moscow since 2014.

"I deem it necessary to make a decision that should have been made a long time ago to immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic," Putin said on Monday.

Putin also formally authorized the deployment of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, a step that the Biden administration has said constitutes the beginning of an invasion that's been feared since Moscow began deploying troops en masse along its neighbor's border.

It's unclear how far Russia plans to go — whether it intends to occupy more of Ukraine, after annexing Crimea eight years earlier or pursue all-out regime change in Kyiv.

At a press briefing on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia would recognize the two breakaway "republics" within "the borders that they have proclaimed themselves."

Peskov declined to elaborate on what that means in terms of borders — area held by separatists or the entire region that the separatists claim. As the map above details, the area the Russian-backed separatists claim is more territory than the separatists currently hold.