Russia, as a state, has legitimate concerns around the expansion of NATO. There are thousands of alternate universes where these concerns could have been addressed peacefully. Russia is a great state with a lot of history and heritage and its position in the global pecking order should be solidified.

However, NATO expansion does not give Russia a right to attack a sovereign country and attack civilian population centers with no regard to human life. Russia has been an aggressor in this. No matter where our political sympathies lie, we have to call a spade a spade. Russia started this war.