“You don’t understand. The people in the Donbass”
I suggest you don’t understand the people of Ukraine.
The Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine was adopted on 24 August 1991.The Act reestablished Ukraine’s state independence. The same day (24 August), the parliament called for a referendum on support for this Declaration of Independence:
“Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine
In view of the mortal danger surrounding Ukraine in connection with the state coup in the USSR on August 19, 1991,
Continuing the thousand-year tradition of state development in Ukraine,
Proceeding from the right of a nation to self-determination in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other international legal documents, and
Implementing the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic solemnly declares the Independence of Ukraine and the creation of an independent Ukrainian state – UKRAINE.
***The territory of Ukraine is indivisible and inviolable.
From this day forward, only the Constitution and laws of Ukraine are valid on the territory of Ukraine.
This act becomes effective at the moment of its approval.
— Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, August 24, 1991
On 26 August 1991 more than 200,000 Lviv and Lviv oblast residents declared their readiness to serve in the national guard. The referendum took place on the same day as Ukraine’s first direct presidential election; all six presidential candidates supported independence and campaigned for a “yes” vote.
In the independence referendum on 1 December 1991, the people of Ukraine expressed deep and widespread support for the Act of Declaration of Independence, with more than 90% voting in favor, and 84% of the electorate participating.
The referendum took place on the same day as Ukraine’s first direct presidential election; all six presidential candidates supported independence and campaigned for a “yes” vote.
An APRIL 2014 International Institute of Sociology poll of all of the oblasts of southern and eastern Ukraine other than Crimea (which was already annexed by Russia by that point) found MAJORITY OPPOSITION TO SECESSION from Ukraine and annexation by Russia in all of these oblasts.
OPPOSITION TO SECESSION from Ukraine and annexation by Russia had these percentages in various southern and eastern Ukrainian oblasts:
• 51.9% Luhansk Oblast
• 52.2% Donetsk Oblast
• 65.6% Kharkiv Oblast
• 78.8% Odesa Oblast
• 81.5% Zaporizhia Oblast
• 84.1% Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
• 84.6% Kherson Oblast
• 85.4% Mykolayiv Oblast