There are substantial differences between East & West Germany and East & West Ukraine.
East and West Germany have been involuntarily and forcibly separated by former "Allies" in WWII — "The Great War" as Russians call it — but populated by Germans who spoke the same language (dialects notwithstanding) and had essentially the same culture (and generational memories even during 1945-1990 separation).
It was exactly the opposite in many parts of Ukraine whose borders (mostly in the Western part) have been expanded officially immediately post-war, and later, in 1954 added Crimea in the East due to "gesture of goodwill" by Nikita Khrushchev who took over as the Soviet Party leader after Stalin's death in 1953.
Language and culture of Eastern part of Ukraine is mostly Russian, not Ukrainian, and there has been a lot of tension between these two parts of Ukraine.
Many in the Eastern part are not unhappy with Russia taking back Crimea and exerting its "influence" on the "Eastern front" which also happens to be rich in gas, coal and other natural resources (Donetsk and Donbass region).
While by no means perfect, a better analogy would be Bloc Québécois in Canada, or former Czechoslovakia.