You didn't make that comparison, and I never said you did, but I'll repeat myself, for clarity's sake. The Russian government and the rebels in eastern Ukraine are spinning this story to make them look like persecuted victims, just like those who pine romantically for the dignified old antebellum South.
And they have managed to pull it off in a way that others have not, mainly because they have a huge disinformation campaign, military support, and a lot of people willing to wear blinders and buy a strictly ideological interpretation of this situation.