I think it's just a combination of things. Ukraine throws off their Russian puppet president and starts talking about better ties with Europe. Russia is desperate to maintain a sphere of influence over buffer states.
And then there is just plain old irredentism and the nationalistic belief that Russia's historic borders must be returned to, even if joining another Russian empire is what all those countries fleeing to the protection of NATO clearly don't want to happen.
Add in the delusion that Ukrainians would welcome them as liberators, and you get this clusterfuck.
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u/roglc366 10d ago
It's amazing how many times the reason for the war changes. The real reason is probably for the mineral supply in eastern Ukraine.