It’s impossible to intelligently discuss the situation without first acknowledging that present-day affairs there are the direct and proximate result of the Hillary Clinton-John McCain directed coup of its previous, legitimate government, and subsequent installation of a globalist kleptocracy.
The Euromaidan had all sorts of messy elements, but I wrote the following in another thread:
As someone who is acquainted with both Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox members, including expats in US:
However “moral” a right Russia had in annexing Crimea - the spirit in which it was done was so vicious and dark: so that that move plus incursion into Donbass has turned a whole generation of Ukrainians against Russia. Including Ukrainians who were naturally inclined to Russia’s orbit over Europe’s.
Poroshenko is awful, but to many Ukrainians - the thought of eternal Soviet-time warp under Russia would be worse. So: its rough, but they’re in it for the long haul in terms of commitment to independence.