You're completely right here, but I need to add: "ethnic Russians" are too a colony of Moscow, as the federal power puts all Russian regions in the position economic depression with how the mechanism of taxes and internal debt are implemented. Almost all regions are "dotational", which means that the federal government gives them money to cover their budget deficits, but this was not always the case.

This isn't about ethnicity, this is about strongmen in Moscow draining the country to fuel the ambitions and comfort of muscovites.