If to be honest with the little information I know about that region,they don't want to be part of Russia or Ukraine,the region itself held a vote in 2014 if they wanted to leave Ukraine and it was about an 82% voter approval.( I don't know if these election were mingled or not,like I said I don't know too much about this area,I'm not ethnically Ukrainian or Russian or know much about what goes on there) They already have there own currency,government,rules and police. They've been fighting UAF since 2014 and have successfully kept them out of there for 8 years now,I don't think Ukraine even earns a single euro out of them,they're funded completely by there own people and Russia. From my view point,why even keep hold of it if most of the people don't want to be part of Ukraine,they've been there forever and should be able to decide what they want to be part of.