You handwaved it away and deflected back to your State department bullet points and atrocity propaganda.

Fact: there was a US financed coup.

Fact: states have a right to secede under Ukrainian law by referendum, and they exercised that right when their sovereignty was violated

Fact: sovereign nations have a right to request aid from their allies. Donetsk and Lugansk exercised that right when Ukrainian Nazis refused to abide by the many ceasefires Russia helped to negotiate.