Since the outset of the war in Ukraine those ignorant of history have fervently decried the conflict, in lockstep with Washington's revisionist narrative, as an "unprovoked Russian invasion". However those who have taken the time to study the last 30 years of US/NATO — Russia relations see quite plainly that the provocations of the US Empire and NATO itself as a hostile military Alliance over the past 30 years played a direct role in facilitating the current war. This piece elaborates these provocations in concise detail, since Putin's first election in 1999. https://thefreethoughtproject.com/antiwar/wikileaks-cia-docs-show-us-knew-they-were-provoking-russia-into-war-with-ukraine