Donbas, Lubansk, and Crimea all have a right to self-determination and declared their independence.
It would be more like if Ireland invaded Northern Ireland. NI is part of the UK just like Donetsk was part of Ukraine, but it would be perverse to consider Ireland a colonizer in that context given the ethnic makeup and history of the place.
Maybe at worst you can frame it as Russian revanchism but even to go that far you have to simply discard any memory of the decade long civil war and politics of brutality that took place there before Russia got involved.
Donbas, Lubansk, and Crimea all have a right to self-determination and declared their independence.
It would be more like if Ireland invaded Northern Ireland. NI is part of the UK just like Donetsk was part of Ukraine, but it would be perverse to consider Ireland a colonizer in that context given the ethnic makeup and history of the place.
Maybe at worst you can frame it as Russian revanchism but even to go that far you have to simply discard any memory of the decade long civil war and politics of brutality that took place there before Russia got involved.