I consider there to be overwhelming evidence that Crimea wanted to be no longer part of Ukraine, and substantial evidence that a substantial, perhaps majority, part of the Russian minority in Luhansk and Donetsk supported secession. And I even have considerable sympathy to their cause. Petrochenkov’s misdeeds resulted in his and his party’s utter destruction in the subsequent elections, which nonetheless showed very little support for alignment with Russia. What evidence have you seen that any Russian troops were welcomed as liberators beyond LDR and DDR? The closest I can find to any support was the mayor of Kharkiv’s “treachery” in allowing the Russians across the Dneiper Gates.
I do not know all the details. It the fog of war is still thick. States do not secede unless they are in an irreconcilable situation. When their President was overthrown and their language outlawed, they saw the writing on the wall. The Obama administration’s overthrow of Ukrainian Democracy, like the overthrow of undemocratic Libya, Syria, and Egypt, has resulted is mass death and disenfranchisement.