In 2005 Putin called the collapse of the Soviet empire “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century.”
He is trying to reverse it. He wants to resurrect the Soviet empire. He wants to drag it out from the trash bin of history, where it belongs.
While I certainly am glad the Soviet Union collapsed, and I think it quite likely that Putin yearns for days when the empire was stronger...I just don’t think you are actually engaging with the article and its subject matter. You have your high level narrative and it seems all the details and little matters like specific facts about the specific conflict must follow the basic theme of that narrative.