Russia went to war to re-annex a territory that it owned until the end of the Soviet era. Putin has been clear about his ambition to recapture the former states of the USSR.
Conquest is literally the most common reason for wars historically, and Ukraine (with its enormous agricultural significance) is a valuable prize.
If you see any other provocation for the war, please share reliable evidence of it.
NATO and Western Cultural Hegemony. Please provide reliable evidence of your own claims that this war is merely "to recapture the former states of the USSR". You ask me for "reliable evidence", yet hypocrite that you are, do not provide a single source of your own.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/why-john-mearsheimer-...
"I think all the trouble in this case really started in April, 2008, at the nato Summit in Bucharest, where afterward nato issued a statement that said Ukraine and Georgia would become part of nato. The Russians made it unequivocally clear at the time that they viewed this as an existential threat, and they drew a line in the sand."
"NATO expansion is the heart of the strategy, but it includes E.U. expansion as well, and it includes turning Ukraine into a pro-American liberal democracy, and, from a Russian perspective, this is an existential threat."
I didn't provide a source for the same reason I wouldn't provide a source about the sky being blue. Putin has publicly lamented the loss of Ukraine, and it's not my job to Google simple things for you.
You have by far the more controversial claim, so the burden is on you to provide proof.
You haven't done that and have also regurgitated Kremlin nonsense, so I'm not going to waste more time here.
Look, you guys can all just say "I'm a Russiophobe" and save your poor Debate Partners from wasting time typing out coherent replies to Dogmatic Chimpanzees
Yes, RF started preparation to war with Ukraine in 2008. I was attacked by Russians in December 2008, so I'm at war for 14 years. However, it was clear from the first day of the fall of Soviet Union that Russian will try to recapture Ukraine, because a) Ukraine is THE historical state of Russia, while Russian Federation contains no territory named "Russia", b) Russian killed 7 million adult Ukrainians in 1932-1934 (officially confirmed number by RF) and 23 million children (not accepted by RF), c) Soviet Union planted about 20 000 agents all over Ukraine for this exact scenario: to bring Ukraine back to Soviet Union when Ukraine break out.
As if countries go to war over Nothing. Absolute Drivel.