Do you realize that the Crimean port of Sevastopol is Russia's ONLY year-round warm water port? It has been a strategic Russian naval base for centuries, and Russia absolutely must hold Crimea to defend itself. There was no way Moscow was going to allow Sevastopol to fall into NATO's hands after we helped overthrow the elected government in Kiev. NATO has been on the offensive since 1994, adding 12 new Central and Eastern European member nations right up to the borders of Russia itself. So far, Russia is still on defense.
And the audacity of these poor little countries on Russia's periphery seeking protection . . . can you imagine? Their desire to do so makes them an existential threat to the Russian Empire.