I traveled through Ukraine last summer, entering in the west and driving the breadth of the country, including Donetsk and Luhansk, the center of the current fighting.
There is a distinct difference in the folks of Odessa and Kiev, which are btw beautiful cities. The folks we met there are very much Ukrainian, very friendly and very "Western". As we went further toward Russia and east, we found the folks more like typical Russians, reserved and less curious about foreigners, for the most part. I think that the people of the countryside where the fighting is, very much identify as Russian rather than Ukrainian, which complicates the situation.
I can say that it is sad that such an interesting and visually appealing place, full of people who really just want to live their lives and raise their families, have become pawns in a Russian power grab.