I see you’ve swallowed pro war propaganda hook, line and sinker.
Here are the facts: Ukraine was essentially in a state of civil war since 2014. The new government after the 2014 coup was hostile to Russia and wanted to join NATO, and the Russian ethnic minority (1/3 of the Ukrainian population) felt persecuted and sought self determination in their majority provinces. (Some of these provinces have historically always been Russian and were only given to Ukraine in 1991).
Zelenskyy the TV comedian was elected on the promise to unite Russian and Ukrainian speaking people. He failed miserably, the civil war continued, and the Russian minority still wanted self-determination in the East.
Putin got involved and supported the separatists, after both Ukraine and Russia built up armies on the border, each with the self-fulfilling prophecy that the other would attack. The human element (sold to the Russian populace) is that the “special military operation” is saving these Russian-Ukrainians from persecution, while the military justification was that Ukraine is a medium sized hostile country on the brink of joining NATO and attacking Russia.
Putin wrongly escalated this civil war into a serious international conflict. But it is NOT because he wants to take over the world or some bullshit, and is not entirely without justification.
If Ukraine agreed to never join NATO, this would have been over in April 2022. Now one million men have been killed, Zelenskyy has banned all political parties that oppose him and banned elections, (so a tyrant), and Ukrainians have no option but to support him in his endless war to cling onto provinces that didn’t want to be Ukrainian any more.
Putin’s popularity is at its nadir, and is allegedly banning social media like Telegram in preparation for mobilising the whole population for more war.
Neither man can accept they lost: if Zelenskyy accepts he’s lost the Donbas, it is against the constitution and he will be killed. If Putin doesn’t win decisively, all the dead Russians will be for nothing and he will lose what remains of his support.
Back to April 2022, the war should have ended then, which the UK purposefully prevented.
Ukraine is a smaller country fighting a much larger country, and could never have resisted Russia without outside support. But Ukraine need endless resources to keep up the fight, which are bleeding the West dry. So we are directly responsible for the war continuing: we are risking World War 3 for a corner of Ukraine. It simply isn’t worth it and it’s not our problem. For once, our bastard leaders should put Britain first and prioritise our survival and stay the hell out of it.