I really doubt this was about ethnic tension. It was about OIL. We didn’t hear shiite about ethnic tensions in Dumbass Donbass until after oil & gas were discovered.
Oil was discovered while it was Ukraine, so it should be Ukrainian oil & gas. If those ethnic whatevers wanna have their own ethnic republic, let them make enough waves to have a referendum without any Russian interference, but they shouldn’t get one drop of oil nor one liter of natural gas, because we all know this is about energy, not enthicity.
Yes the energy is a huge part of the equation with one of the largest gas fields in Europe located there and in Crimea. It was a major factor but there were others, mainly the proximity of NATO troops to Moscow. Whether true or not, Russia clearly believes that NATO is a threat and they have been saying so for many years. That’s why non-membership in NATO or other military alliances is one of their conditions:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4050584/posts