That's literally all it is about. But hey, if it's not about just territory, then Russia should just surrender those four oblasts it claims to have annexed, and I'm pretty sure they could reach agreement for a peace treaty otherwise.
Nope. I bet in 2014 Putin was even ready to accept NATO there. The whole removal of Yanukovich, language ban and the Kiev’s assualt on Donetsk was a zungzwang where Putin has to either come in full force and become an aggressor or betray the local folks subjected to genocide to be dovoured by right wingers.
Then were the Minsk accords meaning third variant where the lands remained in Ukraine in exchange for rights to the people. The person like you, allegedly worried about democracy can’t say it was wrong.