Is it true that Russia's actions in Ukraine since 2014 were primarily driven by those security concerns? It is not entirely clear why Russia annexed Crimea or why it invaded in February. We do not know with complete certainty Putin's reasons. But we can make a guess. Russian leaders saw that Ukraine was decisively moving away from Russia's sphere of influence and aligning itself with the West. For the Kremlin, a Ukraine independent of Russia, in which key decisions are not made in Moscow and which aligns itself with the West, is unacceptable.
Since the Maidan uprising in 2014, Ukraine has been south africa phone number list moving along this line. Since then, the Kremlin has shown a willingness to do whatever is necessary to subdue Ukraine and force it back into its sphere of influence. The annexation of Crimea was probably dictated specifically by Russia's fear of losing its Black Sea fleet and its naval base at Sevastopol.
For some left, this serves as a justification for the annexation of Russia. But can this kind of preemptive aggression really be justified? Russia is now in the process of annexing more territories from a sovereign country. This type of preemptive aggression is not normal behavior. And, clearly, it is not acceptable or justifiable. The problem with the official Russian discourse is that it tries to conflate Russian security with Russian imperialist interests. They always talk about security.