Russia was provoked by NATO influence.
Nonsense. That may be part of Putin's official excuse, but he's an imperialist who compares himself to Peter the Great. His true aim is to re-claim what he views as "Russian lands" and re-draw the Russian (and by extension, European) maps to what they were 200 years ago - including his notion that Ukraine has no right to exist as a sovereign country. He's stated as much.
"NATO expansion" is his convenient dodge.