The current Ukraine crisis...

[YinYang]

One needs to differentiate. The eastern provinces are traditionally more close to Russia and thus did not recognize the new pro-Western and russophobe government after the Maidan putsch.
Hence they split and created those separatist provinces - Donbass, Donetzk and Lugansk.

I hear you, and unfortunately I can't contribute intelligently on these complicated matters, I'm just too uninformed about it.

I just know that 'nothing' justifies the mass murder we see playing out on our TV screens, there can be no saving face for Putin in any of this, not to mention the economic catastrophe he has unleashed on ordinary Russians, who seem to be opposed to this invasion.