That last part also applies to Crimea.

That happened when I was in the midst of a completely shattered understanding of geopolitics and was piecing things back together with the help of Lenin and co. but I distinctly remember thinking back then "this seems really important but I am distrustful of the narrative that Russia is this cartoon villain invading and annexing people at gunpoint without firing a shot" simply because I had seen how that works in practice the many times the US has ultimately tried to do the same thing (or at least that was always the stated intent with narratives around "Nation Building").

Now obviously Russia is not an altruistic actor here and the Russian government is extremely socially reactionary and corrupt, but that doesn't matter when you're in eastern Ukraine seeking self determination and under siege by a bunch of fascist paramilitaries with the tacit approval of their US backed government that rose to power in a CIA coup.