“Then why fight disenfranchised voters in Eastern and Southern Ukraine? Why not let them be free?
You KNOW the sham referendums on the annexation of donbas was fraudulent. The validity of the results of such referendums has not been accepted by any sovereign state. And, Russia does not fully control any of the four regions, where military hostilities are ongoing.
Much of the population escaped since the beginning of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine .The referendums were illegal under international law and have been condemned by the United Nations as violations of the United Nations Charter.