Well, apparently Russian Radbez had a meeting today, where Putin stated that he will decide on independence of Donbass by the end of this day (21st of February). Russian parliament, too, already decided on that.
If they decided to do mental gymnastics on that one, a possible scenario would be the one where Donbass becomes independent and will held a "referendum" on whether or not they want join Russia. So, maybe something similar to Crimea scenario. It's, of course, only my wild guessing.
Maybe it will be a nothing burger after all.
Edit: ninja'd. Damn it.
Well, there is more! Some people think that the meeting was pre recorded. This gets kinda old, tbh.
View attachment 3003283
The meeting was streamed online at around 18:30, but the watch on Shoygu's wrist shows 12:30. Lately you can see his watch again, it shows 13:30. Maybe his watch is broken or just shows wrong time. I don't know, just reposting other people's speculations here.