[Mikeb85]

> I wouldn't say that Russian speaking Ukrainians are "firmly" pro-Russian, I'd say its far from the truth.

Maybe not the best wording. While there is no doubt dissatisfaction with political and daily realities, most Ukrainians, certainly all the ones I know, still feel closer culturally to Russia than to the West.

Russian-ness and Ukrainian-ness aren't dictated by politics which are continually changing...

> Most people just want to have better lives. But their lives got worse with every year.

This is an issue in every country. Right now in half of the EU peoples' lives are getting worse (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, etc...).

There are certainly world-wide economic variables at play, but there's also the issue that some pro-West agents try to hold the country hostage every few years... Russia bailed out Ukraine, and pretty much continually props up its economy. Look what the EU did to Greece and Cyprus...