It's pretty clear almost all Ukrainians don't want to be part of Russia. The fact that Putin has a theory of history that he believes the will of common people should just bow down before is the cause of this invasion and the tensions between US and Russia. As usual, a paranoid leader obsessed with honor gained through force and machismo is blaming everyone but himself. Moreover, the so called "eastern expansion" of the west is driven by common people wanting freedom and prosperity, not by imperialistic machinations. Meanwhile russia has one of the highest emigration rates in the world. If NATO was war mongering why didn't NATO do much after the occupation of Crimea? Or after the attack on Georgia?

Putin life's work is bringing some imagined Russian glory back. But that's the exact mentality that brought suffering on the Russians through the ages. Be it a Tzarist Russia, a communist Russia or a putinist Russia. The common Russian was always sacrificed for some imagined Russian glory.

It's amazing that you can brush away the fact that Putin murders politicians activists and journalist who expose his corruption, and you still think he is genuine. Remember that he denied that he is going to invade ukrain multiple times just before he invaded? The only truth Putin recognizes is power. He will use half truths to manipulate, control and assert his dominance. Compare for example the western rhetoric blaming the war on Putin while acknowledging the common Russian as a victim. Putin's rhetoric OTOH is generalizing the enemy as some fictive "westerner" conglomerate coming after russia. This sort of demagogy is a tool to prepare a people for bloodshed and war, not for peace.