Crimea

Under Catherine, this entire region, along with Crimea, was called Taurida. It was conquered from the Turks and the Crimean horde (which was still called that at the time – the last echo of the great Golden Horde) by the brilliant Prince Potemkin (who received the addition to his surname – Tavrichesky – for this service) together with Suvorov. And not only did they conquer it, but they also developed it, created many cities (by the way, the southeast of Ukraine at that time was a desolate, sparsely populated steppe), and essentially laid the foundation for the modern southeast of Ukraine. This eliminated the real military threat not only to the entire Russian Empire but also, in particular, to Ukraine, which was the first to be in danger during raids by the Turks and Tatars. Study history, not the hysteria of modern fascists.

It should also be added that the Crimean Khan was a vassal of Turkey and coordinated his position with the Sultan. And Ukraine was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (a union of Poland and Lithuania, which merged as a result of the marriage of their rulers, with Poland playing the main role). The Hetman of Ukraine was appointed by the Polish king, and those who did not want to fawn over the Polish nobles went to the Zaporozhian Sich and eastward, settling the free steppes.
And also, in 1854-55, the British and French united and tried to seize Crimea (I don't remember the reason – I'm too lazy to look it up). Apparently, they live very close by – just behind the neighboring fence – and saw this as being in their direct interest. And now they can't calm down that it was Russia, not them, that took control of Crimea.
It was not Russia that went to conquer France in 1812 and Germany in 1941, but the other way around. However, as a result, both were soundly defeated. And among the troops of Nazi Germany that attacked the USSR was the Galicia division, consisting of Ukrainian Nazis. Perhaps Russia does have imperial ambitions, but in the company of such monsters, there is no other way to behave.