In June 2022, Putin stated the mission in Ukraine was about returning Ukraine to Russia. Putin made no mention of NATO or a threat from NATO, nor any other false claims about the reasons for the invasion.
An article that was published early in the war, when Russia had yet to realize it would fail to take Kyiv in three days, was filled with grandiose imperialist visions. This article also lacked any mention of NATO and makes clear the invasion was one of choice:
Did someone in the old European capitals, in Paris and Berlin, seriously believe that Moscow would give up Kiev?
NATO countries [accounted for 6%](https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/115204.htm#:~:text=this myth also ignores geography. only 6%25 of russia's land borders touch nato countries. russia has land borders with 14 countries. only five of them are nato members.) of the Russian border before the invasion of Ukraine, which spurred countries to join NATO. More importantly, unlike Russia, NATO countries have no history of offensive aggression or invasion.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/0jjDnWJzfG-HdD3liMNrqXhco6PhdMqy2O7k1j1SIh4As8st88dCqnjEXWq9vqPbBQ8SYO7MM5Ft6DgNynmvtck6QauzvyKuajFm-9h8FIvBilo9af4xJ1gVfuJ3xSG9qRLp2WOy_f77bE_o3HOUR6lGWmnWba_NnlpUrUpfIa0Xy4KbFklDURNcEWvJbA
Russia has invaded and attacked several countries offensively in the past 20 years, while NATO has not because it’s a [defensive alliance](https://web.archive.org/web/20220223050535/https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_185000.htm#:~:text=NATO is a,and cooperative security.).
After Putin's bungled invasion, Russian state media still ran a now-deleted victory article
New accounts deny Bucha Massacre and boost pro-Kremlin narratives about the invasion
Russia appears linked to false claims Ukrainians are torturing each other