I support eastern Ukrainians choosing the government they wish to be run by.
They did that when they elected Zelenskyy.
The last elections that those in the Donbass region had prior to Russia's referendums there was when the people there held referendums on whether they should have more autonomy from the Ukrainian government. This, despite Putin discouraging them from doing so. They voted in the affirmative. Ukraine decided that the "solution" was to send in the army. That resulted in 8 years of civil war. Ukraine did not hold elections in the Donbass region- they were too busy bombing it. I suspect you're unaware of just how bad things got prior to Zelensky coming to power. Here's a speech given by the Ukrainian President that was in power prior to Zelensky around 8 years ago:
If the elections Russia ran in eastern Ukraine are legitimate, they chose to be part of Russia.
But they're not legitimate.
The UN didn't recognize them as legitimate.
The fact that the UN didn't recognize them as legitimate doesn't mean they weren't legitimate. Russia held elections in parts of 4 Ukrainian regions. I know that in one of them, Donetsk, there were international reporters who monitored the situation and even interviewed people on the street prior to the referendums. It seemed clear from what I saw there that the people generally wanted to join Russia. As to the referendums in general, Eva Bartlett, a journalist I find to be trustworthy, linked to the following article on them:
The Narrative of Sham Elections | The Postil Magazine
By Russia's own admission they didn't poll all the people who live there.
Stands to reason, considering the referendums were being held in a warzone.
I bet that if you polled only the Israelis who lived in the WB and E Jerusalem, they would vote to join Israel too.
There is no Israeli/Palestinian divide in Ukraine. Instead, there is a western Ukrainian/eastern Ukrainian divide. Eastern Ukraine has by and large had more ethnic Russians and Russian speakers in it. Russia has focused pretty much all its efforts in taking eastern Ukraine. Part of this region, the Donbass, separated from Ukraine 8 years ago and western Ukraine's been trying to take it back ever since. It stands to reason that said region would want to join Russia if only to get help in defending themselves against the western Ukrainian aggressors. There is more than that as well, such as the cultural and language ties that eastern Ukrainians have with Russia.
Also, that "referendum" was against Ukrainian law, wasn't administered by Ukraine, and had nothing to do with the Ukrainian government or any international body.
Ofcourse the Kyiv based Ukrainian government wouldn't approve of it. They've been trying to take back the Donbass region for 8 years now, by force. I think Frank Herbert, a former journalist and science fiction writer, was on point when he spoke of the law:
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Law always chooses sides on the basis of enforcement power. Morality and legal niceties have little to do with it when the real question is: Who has the clout?
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For 8 years, Russia tried to find a diplomatic solution to the suffering of eastern Ukrainians. They finally decided that the only way to resolve the situation was through force.