The purpose of this study was to examine the motives of Russian aggression against Ukraine in the setting of Russia's decision to invade its neighboring country in late February 2022. This paper aimed to understand this phenomenon through the use of the international relations theories realism and constructivism together with their chosen operationalized concepts of security dilemma and identity. The empirical material for this is made up of official Russian government sources and has been reviewed through the use of a qualitative idea analysis. The main conclusions taken from the result of this study can be divided into two different dimensions. The realist and security dilemma interpretations mainly conclude that Russia was motivated to invade Ukraine because it illustrates itself as answering to foreign security risks or as an active seeker for security maximizations and opponent of the US world hegemony. Both the events leading up to the invasion and the invasion by Russia itself can in this way be interpreted as a source for security dilemmas between Russia and its proclaimed opponent in the US and NATO, fueling the chain reaction of action-reaction. The constructivist dimension has illustrated that Russian motives to take military action in Ukraine is rooted in identity, power and perception. Russia sees itself as a great power with its own claim and responsibility towards Ukraine, and that the Russian identity on the world stage is threatened by the western world. To ensure its role on this stage and to be able to influence the Ukrainian identity, Russia recognized separatist regions and used military force in Ukraine. Finally, Russia also saw this course of action as a way to protect its national identity and the Russian speaking population.