Why did Russia invade Ukraine? They were desperate for change and didn't know WHAT ELSE to do.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Russia did not invade Ukraine

Putin invaded Ukraine in the name of Russia. A quibble fronting a fact. Putin did not and does not have as much support as he imagines or, at least, the support is wobbly.

Putin motives (beyond egoisticly comparing himself with Peter the Great) have near the top or at the top demolishing the greatest counter-example to Putinism.

Putin's Russia was bumping along growing on vast volumes of pumped oil.

Ukraine was thriving on building industry and looking toward the future. That future outlook enabled them to trounce Russia in the propaganda war, for example, while Putin who should be an expert on propaganda pushed out tired old tropes that fell flat on their face.

I love Patron!

Not only did Ukraine bounce back from Crimea 2014, but it has been doing it by looking West and by struggling and achieving much better freedoms and democracy than Putin's Russia.

He could not allow a free counter-example to thrive against his oppressive Putinism.

The annexation of Crimea in 2014 coupled with plummeting oil prices in 2014-2015 cut Ukraine’s GDP by over 50% from its all-time high in just two years. Though Russia’s economy is about ten times larger than Ukraine’s in terms of GDP, Ukraine’s GDP grew 70.8% from 2015 to 2020 while Russia’s advanced only 8.8% in that same time frame. Both economies have progressed in near-perfect correlation since 1989.

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/russia-vs.-ukraine%3A-an-economic-comparison