“Curious, under what circumstances would they need allowed to vote to leave Ukraine and it not be a sham because they clearly don’t want to be a part of Ukraine.”
Easy. Follow the Ukrainian constitution. It specifically addresses the issue. Such referenda are allowed under the constitution, ONLY if all the citizens of Ukraine get to vote on it, not just those in the affected territory. This was brought up years ago vis-a-vis the Minsk Agreements, but the Russians — not surprisingly — opposed it.
So, hold the referenda votes pursuant to the Ukrainian constitution, and the results will get international recognition and acceptance.
It’s really pretty simple.
The the people of a specific area can have all their rights taken from them if a majority agree. Doesnt seem fair to me. When Quebec (a province of Canada) wanted to become independent from Canada Quebec voted on it. I got your point though. I happen to disagree. No one would ever get their independence in this case (unless they go to war, and here we are).