Who is going to stop the paranoid, Russian despot from his murderous war against the Ukrainian people? I can’t fully comprehend why Russia wants to systematically wipe Ukraine off the world map. Whatever end game Vladimir Putin is plotting at his marble desk in some grandiose Kremlin room, what is blindingly obvious, is the man is a deluded megalomaniacal madman, whose flimsy insanity has finally exploded. The bloodthirsty tyrant is about to kill thousands of innocent Ukrainians.

Even those of us that want to hide in some imposed indifference as if nothing has happened, can sense they are about to witness a mass slaughter.

Putin is a bully. But the self-aggrandising lunatic has enough weaponry to turn many a country to dust. But he has his eyes on the Ukraine first.

And what stands in the marauding maniac’s way? 

Biden imposing sanctions on the Russians are useless. The American President did offer up his prays as well. The US sanctions were magnificently described by one journalist as turning up to a gunfight with a peashooter. The Australians are planning to sanction Putin as well.

Again, useless.

The rest of the western nations bark is just as brittle. So for now, sanctions and prayer is all the Ukrainians have.

Where does that leave the planet’s peacekeepers, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation So, who are NATO? They’re the sort of friend that hides in the toilet when you’re about to get the living shit kicked out you.

In recent months, the US and NATO members have provided the Ukraine with a decent shopping list of heavy armoury, including anti-tank missiles, anti-armour artillery and anti-aircraft missiles. The Germans joined in on Saturday providing the Ukraine with 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 stinger missiles.

But here is the kicker: As the Ukraine is not a member of NATO, they are expected to take on the military muscle of Russian on their own. The US and NATO have made it abundantly clear they will not deploy troops on the ground. The West and NATO are not only bunkering down in the dunny, they have both soiled their silk boxer shorts.

But the bleak and stark reality is, what can the rest of the world do to stop an unhinged madman who would happily nuke anyone who stood in his way?

And the Russians have almost one million active duty-soldiers and close to two million reserves. The Ukraine armed forces number just over 350,000.

The Russians have a staggering array of weapons with around 13,300 tanks, almost 20,000 armoured fighting vehicles, and nearly 6,000 pieces of artillery.

Ukrainian Defence Ministry tweeted that citizens should “make Molotov cocktails and take down the occupier”. Comparisons of David vs Goliath in the media are misguided and unjust.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has boldly said his country would defend itself.

“When you attack us, you will see our faces, not our backs,” he said. “War is a great misfortune and it comes at a great price.” Their soldiers have already shown they are brave and ready to fight. When 13 Ukraine soldiers were told to surrender by a Russian warship perched outside Snake Island in the Black Sea, they yelled “go fuck yourself’ before being killed.

Yet most of the world has been left collectively scratching their arses trying to decipher Putin’s playbook. This is what I have learnt from doomscrolling – that perverse pastime of devouring depressing and disheartening news.

There are many theories: Putin is on some personal quest from God to reunite the Soviet countries and bring the Tsarist Russian empire back from the dead. He wants to increase his domestic influence or have access to fresh water for the Crimea peninsula.

Putin even foolishly claimed he aims for the “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” of Ukraine. Putin’s absurd rhetoric is ludicrous given Zelenskyy is Jewish. And the Ukrainian President has often spoken about how his Jewish grandfather fought against the Nazis.

One reputable theory is Putin have demanded the US not allow the Ukraine to join NATO. He wants a guarantee from the West that other former Soviet nations will not be allowed to join NATO and halt weapon deployments there and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe.

As the Russian bombs pound Kyiv it’s hard to not be possessed by the thought of what disturbing and unbearably heinous acts are unfolding. The brutality of the pending human rights abuse against the Ukrainians is expected to be “catastrophic” according to a letter obtained from the US ambassador to the United Nations, Bathsheba Croker. The letter disturbingly detailed how Ukrainians would be killed or sent to camps. There would be the use of torture and forced disappearances.

There has already been harrowing footage of a tank swerving to drive over a car with an elderly man inside. What is more horrifying is the tank then reversed completely crushing the vehicle. Miraculously the elderly man survived.

What barbaric cruelty was going through the mind of the man steering the tank towards the car? One fears these types of brutality will be repeated again and again.

There are already unconfirmed reports of dozens of Ukrainians being killed. Thousands of Ukrainians have been seen fleeing the war by crossing the borders into neighbouring countries as air strikes rained down on Kyiv.

The UN refugee agency, The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, (UNHCR) estimated that more than 100,000 people were believed to have left their homes in Ukraine. UNHCR said that up to 4 million people may flee to other countries if the war worsens.

Not all can seek refuge. Zelenskyy has imposed martial law and is stopping all men aged 18-60 from leaving the country “in order to ensure the defense of the state, maintaining combat and mobilization readiness of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations”.

As close friend poignantly pointed out to me, that despite both us limping through our fifth decade on this planet, we would be forced to arm ourselves if we were in the Ukraine. So would my 21-year-old son. Given the gentle nature of our surroundings it would be the equivalent of sending the Three Stooges into battle.

Despite the Russian invasion only being a couple of days old, there are reports Putin is already getting frustrated by the Ukrainian resistance so is planning to unleash thermobaric weapons. The weapons will have horrific consequences for civilians as they are designed to deliver a high-temperature explosion, followed by a vacuum effect that causes the air to detonate which crushes people to death. A supersonic wave that obliterates everything in its path. The resulting blast is second only to a nuclear bomb. And Putin has form when it comes to using thermobaric weapons, having previously employed them in Chechnya and Syria.

NATO and the rest of the world must stop Putin. But the problem is how?