Rjsimmon is absolutely correct though. "Terrorists" has become the new catch-all term for every government dealing with any sort of domestic armed opposition to their power. Even Gaddafi in Libya and Assad in Syria labeled their foes "terrorists".
It's the banal propaganda term that every government uses today. I have no doubt at all that if the U.S. Civil War took place today, the Lincoln Administration would be calling the Confederacy terrorists.
Did the Confederacy terrorize their own people in the South? I don't think so.
Are pro Russians in Donestk and Lugansk using violence and threats of violence on their own people, a majority of which do not wish to join Russia? The answer is yes.
Just because some may misuse the word terrorist doesn't me we should refrain from using the word correctly when it is appropriate.
The pro Russian thugs in E. Ukraine are terrorists.