While most people could not even point out Ukraine on a world map, there is another factor that completely evades most Americans in this time of the "all things Russian are unconditionally bad" narrative.

Let's look at one of the key issues that has impacted the West's view of Russia.  In the Western mainstream media, we repeatedly hear that in March 2014, Russia illegally annexed Crimea despite the fact that a referendum was held.  For your illumination, here is a map showing the Crimean peninsula (in purple) and the evolution of Ukraine in the post-First World War era:

Note that Ukraine was not granted ownership of Crimea until 1954, a very recent development given Crimea's long association with Russia.

Let's look at how Washington saw the 2014 Crimean referendum.  Here is a quote from an interview entitled "Why the Crimean Referendum is Illegitimate" with John B. Bellinger of the Council on Foreign Relations, one of Washington's most influential think tanks, from March 2014:

Note that Ukraine was not granted ownership of Crimea until 1954, a very recent development given Crimea's long association with Russia.