Ukraine is fighting for itself with support of the population.

What population? That population that is forbidden from leaving the country, afraid to leave homes due to fear of being kidnapped on the streets, and tries to escape the country at any cost? The population that cannot choose their president? The population that cannot form political parties if government does not like it? What population???

Yeah, no. Russia is fighting NATO expansion. The head of NATO said so. The people of Russia know what Western economic shock therapy did to them and they have a learned distrust of the West. They do not want yet another European military invading them over the Ukraine border like the last 2 European armies did.

Ukraine, on the other hand, had a movement for alignment with the West that was cultivated, stoked, and supported by the USA to the degree that John McCain and Victoria Nuland were literally on the ground during the Maidan protests. Nuland is on tape discussing the replacement of the elected leader of Ukraine. And then the minority Right Sector faction stormed the capital with guns drawn and forced the sitting government to flee for its life. The replacement government simped for the EU and USA because it meant the USA would allow them to kill the ethnic Russians within their territory and also enrich their political elite. So for 8 years the neonazis, tied to the NATO leave-behind militias of Nazi supporters created under NATO'S Operation Gladio, bombed and murdered ethnic Russians inside Ukraine's border.

And when the move towards NATO expansion was too close for comfort, Russia acted to prevent that expansion.

This has nothing to do with expanding Russia. The CIA has said so. The NYT has reported so. NaATO has stated so. Within Russia, there is no material possibility, no military strategy, and no political desire to take and hold Ukraine.