I think you will find Putin flooded the Donbas with Russian citizens with the promise of homes and land long before this war, the people you call Russian Ukrainians are just Russians nothing more nothing less.

Putin flooded the Donbas with Russian-born citizens and thousands of the Ukrainian citizens evacuated Donbas, so the elections were always going to be in Russia's favor, just a sham vote that most of the world laughed off, now we see new voting taking place, and again we already know the winner, I just wish the bookies were giving odds.