Russian-supporting (emplaced?) rebel leaders (they’re not separatists) in the Russian occupied Donbas region of Ukraine are encouraging “civilians” to evacuate the area in the face of Russian-supported shelling of civilian villages. And to go east, to Russia.

That’s not necessarily a bad idea. The bulk of those Donbas civilians are Russians who are either immigrants, legal aliens, illegal aliens, or nominal citizens of Ukraine. A significant fraction of those folks still favors Russia over their host nation. Such an evacuation, were it actually to occur, would take some of the teeth out of one of Putin’s rationalizations for invading Ukraine—Anschluss­.