You are absolutely correct, sir, in that the ethnic Russian people in Crimea and eastern Ukraine support what Putin has done and would stand in front of/with Russian forces to show their support. It’s just not what Putin actually said to the reporter... ; )
See my encyclopedia entry above for details.
Your tagline is right on, too, BTW!
Cheers!
Ivan
Putting women and children in front of his invading tr0ops, either by force or encouraging them on TV to do so, is utterly vile and disgusting!