[MeanWestTexan]

The Russians should have just stuck to some classics, like “we need breathing room” or “Ukraine has WMD” or whatever.

Or just have been honest — the Ukraine has a bunch of oil and gas recently discovered and Russia needs to protect its market.

[PIF]

Oil reserves in Donbas region: drilled in 2014-2015, not economical, some fracking, but poor quality. Russian propaganda that there is lots of oil in the region.

Ukraine not self-sufficient in oil, imports mostly finished products. Large natural gas storage ESE of Lviv - largest in Europe.

[Eagles6]

"Or just have been honest — the Ukraine has a bunch of oil and gas recently discovered and Russia needs to protect its market."

That's the crux, of it.

[ought-six]

“The Russians should have just stuck to some classics, like “we need breathing room”...”

Well, Lebensraum had already been used, and the Russians were worried about copyright infringement.