Yes, Russia is no exception to the rule of the maximum power principle and guilty with destroying lives and a country as a whole. With that said, and as it was suggested by the RAND report, Russia was not intended to achieve its goals by military means. Were it not for the US meddling it would have simply made a 'union' with Ukraine - just like as it is planning to do with Belarus right now. In the end Russia would rule over both countries (Belarus and Ukraine), which is certainly sad for democracy and freedom, but would've cost much less lives and did not throw Europe's economy under the bus.