One thing I get a chuckle out of here on FR with posters calling the referendums “fake” and implying that Russia will “manufacture” votes the way that democrats do here...:-)
These people in those Russian speaking areas “want out so bad they can taste it” and have been pressuring Russia to move quickly because that will provide permanent security for them.
It won’t be like Kharkov where Russia can just pull out if that suits them. Russia will be obligated to defend what will be their own territory.
A few weeks ago there was a funny video posted showing un unbelievable line of people trying to get into the Russian controlled part of Zaporozhye. They were stopped and questioned by Ukrainian security forces and kept saying they were just going there to pick up the parents, grandparents, whatever. But, their vehicles were piled high with their children, their pets and all of their belongings. It was so obvious that even the Western media who were there covering it were suggesting they were fleeing.