I showed your theory to a Russian person I know who likes Ucranians a lot and she confirmes that your theory is the only theory that makes sense in her head, a she said Russians and Ucranians are a usually a family

She also sent me the video below. It's in Russian so I cannot translate it, but I bet someone here will help you:

https://youtu.be/cZmF5VscIUs?si=pscTgYmR0MMzGIpA

#russia #ukraine