[InternetPerson]

I found this to be a compelling take on Russia's motivations for invading Ukraine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If61baWF4GE

The narrator argues that it's largely about fossil fuels.

[pmorici]

I think this is the real answer though you won't ever hear them say it out loud. Gas was the reason they got involved in Syria too. Keeping Assad in power enabled them to stop a gas pipeline from being built from the middle east through Syria to the EU.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar%E2%80%93Turkey_pipeline