Euromaidan. Russian-aligned leader got kicked and in its place was taken by a pro-EU government
"Pro-EU" is one way of putting it. Ukraine became an economic and militaristic threat to Russia.
Putin lost control over Ukraine and that was unacceptable to him.
Sorry, this kind of narrative is again way too much "great man theory" for my tastes.
But he does? His opposition either magically disappears or suddenly don't qualify for the election.
Yes, it's a very obvious example of power politics in electoral politics. But there are still generals and ministers surrounding him. Putin is acting in the name of a sovereign nation. Individualising his goals and behaviors (acting as if it's the whims of a person) is not helping if you want to understand the situation.
What do you mean? Trump is literally slapping tariffs on its neighbors and nobody is stopping him.
And there are reasons for him to do so. It's a strategy to further his goals. I'm not claiming that the strategy is good or that I align with the goals, but the are there and it's important not to lose track of them.
Putin wants to regain control of Ukraine and that's the only reason the Russian state needs.
Imperialism meaning to extend the power of a nation for its own benefit beyond its borders. This can be in militaristic nature by invasion, but also in economic nature via economical warfare.
Once you accept that definition, you see that the west is an imperialist player, too (otherwise, the US dropping out of Ukraine wouldn't be such a big issue).
I agree that Russia is imperialist and I disagree with their goals, as they disalign with mine. But I disagree with the west's imperialist goals, too. In the end the Ukrainian and Russian people are pawns in the imperialist games of nations, which I can't condone.
If Russia loses, Ukraine's economy will be so crippled and its population will be so decimated that it has no other choice than to take credit and be exploited from European companies. It will be like what happened in Greece, but 100 times worse. Selensky will be ok, as he'll most likely get some position at some board, but in any case: the Ukrainian people (the people whose interests are most aligned with mine) will lose in any case.