DJ, 

Russia is claiming it had to protect (R2P=Right to Protect...also other countries used it...) ethnic Russians from a possible genocide that an Ukraine offensive planned for february this year would bring to the Donbas-East Ukraine...Ukraine shelling of that region-since 2014-would have killed up to 15,000 ethnic Russians...

When I look at how decreasing Russian energy exports to the "west" is working out I think Russian sanctions on the west could have been an alternative...

There were Minsk-agreements; France, Germany would help to maintain peace between Ukraine and Russia...however France and Germany tolerated Ukraine breaking those agreements over and over again...

Russia needs energy exports...however it was Germany asking for Northstream-2...(Gazprom paid for it...)....now Russia is increasing energy exports to "its friends"; China, India, Türkiye...even some OPEC members now buy Russian oil replacing their own oil they now export at higher prices...

So-why did Russia not go for the boycott of the west in energy deals, oil, gas, uranium...?  Maybe they did not expect things would get this bad...? Russia did see tensions with the US decreasing under trump...

Still the basic Ukraine crisis goes back to (at least) 2014...Russia knew NATO, the west, was breaking all its promisses of not moving NATO east...

So-in my opinion-it would have been far wiser to go for a "Russian sanctions war" on the west-much earlier...and increasing transport capacity for energy export towards Asia...

Still the US-biden-wants regime change in Moscow...it-Russian sanctions- may not have helped....