"I'm not sure how the Ukis became the poster children of virtue and honor in war."
They're not.
But in this case they're the little guy who's standing up to the bigger guy and who is punching FAR above their weight class.
As I've said repeatedly in this thread, I have a burning hatred of Russia and things Russian. Not entirely logical, I'll admit, but I've always been that way. I guess growing up as a patriotic American during the Cold War and, especially, the Reagan 80s? Who knows.
But, to my mind, Putin is really nothing more than a modernized version of Josef Stalin. I've felt that way since he started to co-opt his way into being a dictator in the late 1990s/early 2000s.
I always felt that Putin's greatest desire (turns out to have been pretty correct) has been to reassemble the Soviet Union and again become a major world power.
The West never stopped looking at Russia as a major world power. They had a large army, a large, supposedly capable Navy, a large air force, and a massive nuclear capability.
I think, however, a lot of people have been very shocked (I know I have been) at just how incompetent and ineffective the Russian military has been, how badly a small nation has savaged it, and just how pervasive the corruption rot has been.
Yeah, the Ukrainians probably aren't that much different than the Russians they're fighting, but as long as they're killing Russians and making Putin look like a fool, I'm happy.
Because remember... Only YOU can prevent live Russians.