You cannot dismiss the Ukrainian actions that initiated this war over the Donbass in particular. It was the ignition switch that turned this all on. Declaring a war on citizens in your own country is asking for it.
It’s a blood feud that is so intense neither side is willing to concede or compromise. Both sides, over the centuries, have perpetrated atrocity after atrocity on each other. I want nothing to do with either side. How we get blundered into the main role of this generational CF is beyond me. Over four tiny rabidly Balkanized crap hole oblasts 5000 miles away. Beyond belief.
Still dragging out that Russian talking point a year after the Russian invasion started. Is that all you have?
How was Russia seizing Crimea, or invading the Donbass in 2014 not the beginning of the war?
Watch Igor Girkin admit that nobody supported the takeover of Crimea and that the Russian backed militia forced the local officials to vote for secession.