The no choice move at first, that turned into a fortuitous move.

The question frames it as a unilateral move on Russia’s part, which then terminates a lot of thought. Constant provocations from NATO were always going to result in getting the response they wanted.

Likewise framings about “Putin” doing stuff are just attempts to caricature and demonise. Most state leaders would do the same, the US certainly would. In fact Putin lost a vote in the Duma to the communist party to recognise the breakways a week before the invasion. Doing so meant that Putin Russia then had to invade to protect the newly recognised states.

Russia anyway has come out on top and stronger than before. It’s been a disaster for the US. From that point of view Russia “made the right move” but they wouldn’t have if there was no NATO expansion. This is even more borne out by the fact that the negotiations that were scuppered by Boris Johnson did not include any taking of the Donbas territories, all Russia wanted was for them to be autonomous. Which shows there was no IMpeEr1aLiSt intent or “land grabbing” going on. (Besides Crimea but that was after the coup.)