"While there is a large Russian speaking population in eastern Ukraine, it is still a minority compared to native Ukrainian speakers,"
Again, this is wrong. According to the 2001 Census, over 60% of people in Crimea were ethnic Russians who spoke Russian.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Crimea#Ethnicities_and_languages
Again, this is wrong. According to the 2001 Census, over 60% of people in Crimea were ethnic Russians who spoke Russian.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Crimea#Ethnicities_and_languages
The same is true for the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Russianlang2001ua.PNG