It is not ethnography, it is fact that Lenin and Stalin politically displaced Chechens after WWII, Germans of the Volga were transfered to Kazakstan with only one suitcase allowed, and Russians were moved to Ukraine too. This Putin Policy is just an extention of this, a leverage of this tool he inherited from the Soviets.
Many Russians view Ukraine a part of Greater Russia. Is the reverse true? Probably not for many Ukranians & i think you make good points. Ethnograhy though is really peripheral. Politically & culrurally, I’d it’s more akin to a comparison between Canadians & Americans had Canada not had the British influence, and mostly politically.