Partly because it's happening in Europe and the nuclear context, yes.
But not simply because of that. It gets attention because the nature of the aggression is extremely clear, and highly unusual (in its brazenness and openness); and due to the clear and present threat to the (at least approximately) rule-based world order that human beings have been trying to keep in place since 1945. And it "happened" because the regime currently installed in the aggressor country chose to take the action that it did (and falsely calculated that the invasion would be a brilliant success, and face very little effective resistance).
Not because of anything that went down in the 1990s.
Nothing remotely related to 'racism'.
On the contrary -- this decision was intimately tied to Putin's racist conception of Ukrainians as a people (and his supremacist views of his own people, or what he believes to be "his" people anyway). This is eminently clear from his own statements and numerous other indications.
If you wish to explore this topic further, then I invite you to consider the writings of e.g. Terrell Jermaine Starr:
https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a40137153/terrell-j...
However you choose to ignore these indications and the openly available history of the region, and build your narratives accordingly -- that's up to you.