In 2012, Donetsk was admitted as the best city for business in Ukraine by Forbes. Donetsk topped the rating in five indicators: human capital, the purchasing power of citizens, investment situation, economic stability, as well as infrastructure and comfort.
http://yellowpage.in.ua/en/archives/45318
I suspect Eastern Ukraine is going to start looking a lot like late 60s/early 70s Northern Ireland.
A lot of Russia’s military industrial capability is located in, and around Donetsk. So are the nickel mines, which are hugely important, strategically.
There is a real reason they don’t want it under Western control.
I think they will admit them as independent states. They won’t require the complete top-down rebuild that Crimea has to have.
In 2012, Ukrainian Forbes (the publication to which you are referring)was owned by Sergey Kurchenko, a crony of former President and now fugitive Yanukovich. Kurchenko is believed to have stolen $ 1 billion from the citizens of Ukraine.