From the Kremlin's standpoint, everybody they murder is "provoking" them. For example, all the journalists beaten in subways or murdered in Russia "provoked" the Kremlin by practicing journalism. Similarly, the U.S. provokes Russia by not dismantling NATO, even while the Russians have been modernizing their nukes and military forces for years.
So there is not an ounce of truth to our interest in expanding NATO into Ukraine. There is no truth to the statements that the US supported the violent overthrow of an independent an elected government in Ukraine.
I accept that Putin is a bad guy. But the US has pretty dirty hands here. I would be more interested in the blind anti Putin propaganda if we did not stink up the room. There doesn’t seem to be a place in the world these days where we leave well enough alone.