The question that has to be asked is:"Was the Ukraine and...

The question that has to be asked is:
"Was the Ukraine and Ukrainians better off before 2014 than they are now?"

To a reasonable person the answer should be an overwhelming Yes.

The next question is:

Did the Ukraine/Ukrainian people misjudge Russia and Russian needs/intentions?
And the answer has to be Yes.

This is how a Political Realist looks at this war.....not from a moral point of view: ie: Good/bad-right/wrong.

As the Greeks once said that the greatest knowledge was : "Know thy self" and that includes
one's own strengths and weaknesses.

In this case the Ukraine either misestimated its own strength or weakness vis a vis Russia
and that has resulted in Russia now controlling 17% of the Ukraine.

In the short term this war is probably a godsend for the USA but in the longer term
it will likely mark the start of the demise of the US' hedgemonic power both
economically and militarily, IMO. The economic rot has already set in by the partial
debunking of the Greenback's Reserve Currency status and one does not have
to be Einstein to realise over time that economics trumps politics and underpins military power.