EXPLAINER: Russia-backed rebels a thorn in Ukraine's side

Amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, tensions have spiked in the country’s east, where Ukrainian forces are locked in a long conflict with Russia-backed separatists

MOSCOW -- Amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, tensions have spiked in the country’s east, where Ukrainian forces are locked in a long conflict with Russia-backed separatists.

More than 14,000 people have been killed in nearly eight years of fighting, and a sharp increase in skirmishes in recent days have raising concerns that Moscow could use the situation as a pretext for an incursion. President Vladimir Putin said Monday he was mulling the recognition of the rebel regions’ independence, a move that would further ratchet up tensions with the West.

Here is a look at the rebel-controlled territories in eastern Ukraine:

SEPARATIST REBELLION IN THE EAST