What does Ukraine fight for? Is this arable land, industry of Luhansk and Donetsk, or resorts of the Crimea?Widespread lack of understanding of the Russian aggression roots is a hugely important issue. Primitive analysts and shallow journalists pretend the war is about geopolitics, losing Soviet ties with Russia, cravings of the Russian-speakers etc.
No.
The war is about survival. Survival of Ukraine.
Which is even worse, the war will not end as the military operations end.
It is going to be only the beginning of a war much more difficult. It is the war for the Ukrainian national identity.
Russia has used centuries-long policy of the russification to hit the most Russified regions. It would not be possible if not for that obtrusion of the Russian language and culture by banning Ukrainian ones, as well as nonfeasance of Kyiv Government since 1991 Independence.
Is it the Russian language that provokes the aggression?
Strategical answer is yes, definitely. It is a major tool of the modern hybrid war, instrumental for manipulations and propaganda. Yet the assertion must not be applied to the communication of any two individuals, as it is not uncommon in Ukraine that one interlocutor uses Ukrainian and other - Russian in their dialogue. Still, concurrent usage of Ukrainian and Russian is the act of schizophrenia, and must be banned from radio and TV as it prevents, in particular, children from hearing and mastering their mother-tongue. Russian speakers are much more prone to support Putin and terrorist DPR/LPR according the survveys: https://gazeta.ua/articles/sogodennya/_rosijskomovni-duzhe-vrazlivi-do-rosijskoyi-propagandi-doslidzhennya/631747
Main aspiration of Putin-supporters in eastern Ukraine and the Crimea has never been Russia or its language - it was yearning for the lost youth and the USSR - and against Ukrainian identity: https://voxukraine.org/2016/03/07/are-the-russian-justifications-valid-ua/
Ukrainian-speakers expect Russia-speakers to join them in restoring Ukrainian identity, for instance, as it was done in Czechia: https://gazeta.ua/articles/istoriya-movi/_cesku-movu-vidrodzhuvali-ponad-100-rokiv/681955 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_National_Revival
Instead they get reinstatement of the modern Ukranian Soviet Socialist Republic, 21st century Ukrainian SSR. As it happened in Belarus where Russian language and culture completely dominate.
Remember:
military operations is the war for survival today;
national identification via language, education and culture is the war for tomorrow.
We prevail.
