It’s circular nonsense from Putinistas. Ok for Putin to mass murder Ukrainian and Russian citizens (Dagestan, Chechnya, etc.) Not ok for Ukrainians to defend themselves against transnational warfare.
Bottom line is nobody died in E. Ukraine until Putin sent RF MVD & GRU in to start killing. Russia and it’s daydreaming supporters have blood on their hands for every single death in Ukraine now. Putin is killing to advance his political agenda and they support his methods.
So we have come full circle: from denying that they were Russian, to Putin admitting they were Russian, to claiming that everyone knew it anyway.