Russia has been have practically been fighting hot wars and invaded countries **nonstop** for decades

Afghanistan: 1979 - 1989

Chechen War I: 1994 - 1996

Chechen War I: 1999 - 2009

Georgia: 2008

Crimea and East Ukraine: 2014 - to date

Syria: 2015 - to date

Ukraine: 2022 - to date

and that excludes all the proxy conflicts they had a heavy hand in: Armenia/Azerbaijan, Modova, all of Sub-saharan Africa

At what point do people stop buying the "peaceful nation that just wants to defend itself" story?

[and yes, US' record is not much better]