A journalist should know that an “enclave” means a portion of a state that shares no border with the rest of that state. You’ll hear about “separatist enclaves” because separatists frequently have strongholds that are isolated from one another. Separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk control geographically united territories that border each other and even Russia.
If you are talking about Austin Bay, he is not a Journalist. He writes Opinion editorials, not News articles as a reporter would.
Should self-detemrination be allowed for ______________________?
One can begin with a premise of the American Revolution, and move through peoples across the centuries since seeking self-determination, i.e. self-governance.
Much depends on "who" versus "who rules" from whom self-determination is.
If the current "separatists" want Russian language and culture and thereby to associate with Russia more closely, does this qualify as seeking "self-determination?"
NATO as a multinational seeking expansion certainly seems NOT to qualify as self-determination. A Democrat US administration opining on Ukraine and Russia also do not qualify as self-determination. And yet so many are "determined" to....
There is no border between Ukrainian Donbas and Russia. Russia attacked and destroyed it in 2014.