Yes, Chomsky has been a vocal supporter of Russia in this and other tensions relating to NATO. It's not surprising, but his views are informed more by ideology than information, IMHO. He's also rather hypocritical in not acknowledging Russia's own actions.

NATO had a good arrangement with Russia for over a decade through the NATO-Russia Council (NRC). The purpose was to foster outreach to Russia and give it a means of communicating its interests directly. This was in direct response to Russian complaints about NATO expansion into the Baltic states in 2003 - the last time NATO expanded eastward (before the war).

They reached several agreements in their time, but Russia withdrew from it in 2014. The reason was Russia's invasion and annexation of Crimea, which was in direct response to Yanukovych being overthrown by his OWN government.

Whatever can be said about Ukrainian culture (vis a vis conservativism and homophobia), that is not relevant to this war. It also stands in contrast to Russia, where homosexuality has been criminalized for years. Russia has been playing the "Ukraine is run by Nazis" since 2014 because they are trying to denounce and discredit the government that overthrow Yanukovych, an avowed Russian puppet.

This demonstrates the nature of the relationship between the countries, which is not like that of Pakistan and India. They are two sovereign nations fighting over shared resources - mainly, the Indu river and its watersheds. Ukraine and Russia's relationship as always been one of Russia dominating Ukrainian politics through indirect means or conquest.

Putin even admitted that his real aims are to resurrect the "good old days" of the USSR and Peter the Great. In short, he wants to resurrect Imperial Russia, and a key part of that is dominating Russia's old satellite states.

Ever since 2014, they've lost the ability to manipulate Kiev into cultivating their interests, so they've resorted to territorial seizures, financing seperatist groups, and now, invading.