Can dictatorships join the european union now? Oh wait…

Apparently, there is currently massive support for the Ukraine joining the EU. I know it’s at war and all that, but I thought the recent disputes with Hungary and Poland showed the EU was a community of shared values: democracy, rule of law and freedom of the press.
Since opposition media and more than 10 opposition parties have been banned without proper constitutional review (with judges being illegally fired from the constitutional court by the president) you would expect Europhiles to want to wait till the Ukraine respects judicial independence and ends repression of the opposition.