A referendum conducted by Russia isn’t trustworthy.

Like I already said: Russia will act as though they aren’t a sham.

That’s not all you said, is it? You ALSO said that Ukrainians voted in a referendum to join Russia. Right here and this IS your assertion:

I’m not sure why Kyiv is so obsessed with fighting to reclaim regions that were ethnic russians and that seems like they don’t even want to be part of Ukraine.

I don’t give a shit what Russia thinks, they’re wrong. You’re defending Russia by using the referendum, conveniently, you don’t want to talk about the referendum’s legitimacy.

Why do you think that referendum being a sham doesn’t matter and then use it as justification for Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory.