They just didn't give it enough time for freedom loving generation to blossom naturally, instead cornering people into a false choice with expected results that we're observing now. Like i previously stated, in 2013 everything was going great, Russia was part of European court of human rights, visa facilitation agreement with EU was in force and there were discussions about visa free entries between EU and RU, plans for Nord Stream2 were being approved etc etc etc. Then somebody felt very uncomfortable with such arrangements and under the pretense of not enough democracy fast enough
Nice attempt at revisionist history... except it's bullshit. Russia wasn't moving towards democracy and freedom in 2013. With a KGB nutjob in power it had bombed Chechnia into submission, had a war with Georgia, and was supporting conflicts and dictatorships elsewhere (Moldova, Belarus, etc). Intervention in Ukraine fits that pattern. Conspiratardery about "somebody feeling uncomfortable" and orchestrating a bizarre sequence of events that manipulated Putin into invading Ukraine makes no sense to anyone except deluded kremlinists.