Are they anything but a pretext for the re-creation of Novorossiya by Putin? National Geographic has an interesting article on this issue.
For one thing, the question of exactly what constitutes an ethnic Russian isn’t exactly clear cut. As one policy expert notes in the article:
“First of all, what constitutes ‘ethnic Russians’ in Ukraine?” asks Stephen Blank, a senior fellow with the American Foreign Policy Council. “The Russians have played fast and loose with this: Sometimes they mean Russian speakers. Or there is also the new Russian citizenship law that says if your grandparents lived in Russia and Russian is your native language, you can be a Russian citizen.”
Adds Blank with acerbic humor: “This would make me a Russian citizen—they can invade Brighton Beach to rescue the Russian Jews who are oppressed by the city government of New York.”
The article really is a good summary of the history of the area in terms of its relation to Russia and the Russian population in the region.