It was though. If Russia wanted to annex Ukrainian separatist states, it could have done so before they invaded.

Since it didn't, Ukraine never attacked Russian territory.

Then Ukraine the elected a Jewish person whose mother tongue is Russian and speaks Ukrainian with a slight russian accent. Which threw their 'Nazis who want to kill Russian-speaking Ukrainians' narrative in the trash, and maybe it was lived as a provocation since it made Russian propagandists looks like fools.