The Crimeans most certainly did (and thus aligned), and the people of the Donbass also most certainly do. The quality of life they can achieve under a free, stable Russia is exponentially better than anything they can have under the Ukrainian regime. In Russia you can raise a family in peace, and have a good quality of life. In Ukraine it is almost impossible.
Another putins stooge barking.
Russians must choose between their freedoms/rights and a minimal standard of living. The fact of the matter is: given Russia's vast resources, size, and capabilities -- the quality of life should be so much better for the *majority* of people, not just the oligarchs - whose spoils only seem to spill over into Moscow and St. Petersburg and leave the rest of Russia out to rot. Unless...of course, you're by a World Cup stadium. Then you may have received some infrastructure funding at least temporarily. (The oligarchs don't even live in Russia, but are on their estates out West or yachts somewhere.)
Again and again the people of Russia are confronted with the faustian bargain of selling their souls to the State in exchange for some security. If you dare to protest, dare to confront the State's corruptions and propaganda: say bye-bye to the little that you've worked for. The Kremlin has since raised the pension age, so you don't even get that anymore until you're dead.
Ukraine has a long way to go in escaping the legacy of being under the Imperial and Soviet thumb of its neighbor, but at least right now: there is true *freedom of religion.* The Kremlin can't even afford its (non-Orthodox) Christian people that. And Ukrainians have more travel mobility in neighboring Europe.
In Russia you can raise a family in peace...in Ukraine it is almost impossible.