I sympathize with the Ukrainians too, but it wasn't wise of them to poke the bear. And I mean that literally.
Starting from 2014, Ukraine has become increasingly anti-Russia. And not just anti-Russia as in against Russia, but anti-Russian in a ultra-nationalist sense. Even Ukrainians that spoke Russian or were of Russian origin were attacked and targeted. They brought this on themselves when they rioted and overthrew their government in 2014, when only few months later a new presidential election was due. And they relied too much on the false promises of NATO. So, although I do sympathize with Ukraine because its sovereignty is being violated by a military power, but I cannot blame Russia for this either.