Is Ukraine a democracy?

Many people have this idea that the Ukraine is a beacon of democracy assaulted by evil dictator Putin. But are things really so black and white?
Political parties banned, activists arrested, Russian-speaking people punished, shelling of civilians in Donbass for years, doesn’t sound very democratic. Of course, this does not justify the Russian invasion, but perhaps it helps to see things more in context? Since I don't know so much about the local politics, here's two former Prime Ministers of Ukraine giving their views, the first one pro-Russian, the second one pro-EU. What do you think?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykola_Azarov
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleksiy_Honcharuk