ukraine was literally no threat to russia. no 'western' or european nation is a threat to russia if russia would just gtfo and quit invading its neighbors.
ukraine is not a threat to anyone, but the united states is and ukraine let the united states fool it into thinking they could join the american side despite geopolitical hazards like russia and trump or warning signs from history like latin american; the middle east; or europe after ww2.
We encourage you to explore this report and its accompanying research brief. However, because Russian entities and individuals sympathetic to Putin's decision to invade Ukraine have mischaracterized this research in recent weeks, we also encourage you to explore this helpful resource on Russia's “firehose of falsehood” approach to propaganda and our research on “Truth Decay,” which is a phenomenon that is driven in part by the spread of disinformation.