There are a couple of problems with these statements. Much of eastern Ukraine has always been bilingual. Russia has been slowly removing the native population and substituting Russians to get more control over the country when there were pro-Russian governments in power.

Before the war, about 30% of the people in the eastern oblasts wanted a closer relationship with Russia. Because of the brutality that has been exhibited since the war began, fully 98% of them want the Russians gone and hate them. You also conveniently overlook the fact that the eastern oblasts are a big portion of the breadbasket of Ukraine and the site of a lot of its natural resources. It is a valuable portion of the country that they will not lightly cede.