Kaur,
From your quotes, the majority of ethnic Russians in Ukraine supported some form of separatism. So - the Ukrainians who have a disincentive to legitimize separatist sentiments and the Russians who have an incentive to legitimize those same sentiments attempted to play down/up the support for that cause. No surprise there.
Where I disagree with you is that Moscow attempted the same strategy in eastern Ukraine that it did in Crimea. When the Crimea referendum passed (legitimate or not), in a matter of days Russia formalized it and annexed the region. When the Donetsk referendum passed with the same exact platform as the Crimean one, Moscow deferred and was in fact mostly silent about the results. If Russia is in direct control of the separatists, why would Russia embarress itself by hosting a referendum for annexation only to turn it down publicly and damage its credibility with the insurgents?
I don't think Russia wants to physically govern eastern Ukraine. Instead, I think they want to de-center Kiev's political power and disrupt the new government's ability to actually govern. Destablizing Ukraine weakens its opposition to Russia's aims and makes it more unlikely for NATO members to welcome the country into the alliance.
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