The link you posted demonstrates how ridiculous that point is. By the time Russian operatives disguised as DNR and LNR leaders asked for "help", Russia had been amassing army on Ukraine's borders for months, not to mention that LNR and DNR themselves had been for many years under total Russian control, as ruled by ECHR. This was Russian military administration of occupied territories creating a pretext for wider invasion, nothing more.

That link says Denis Pushilin (a Ukrainian) asked for help. It says nothing about "Russian operatives disguised as DNR and LNR leaders".

He is employed by the Russian military administration to project an image as if the occupied territories were independent separatist areas. ECHR found that untrue. LNR and DNR remain under direct Russian control.