Comment by orwin

It was though. If Russia wanted to annex Ukrainian separatist states, it could have done so before they invaded.

Since it didn't, Ukraine never attacked Russian territory.

Then Ukraine the elected a Jewish person whose mother tongue is Russian and speaks Ukrainian with a slight russian accent. Which threw their 'Nazis who want to kill Russian-speaking Ukrainians' narrative in the trash, and maybe it was lived as a provocation since it made Russian propagandists looks like fools.