Western people generally misunderstand the dynamics of power. Far too many imagine that waving placards and chanting slogans will "make a difference" but the reality is that such posturing is almost always irrelevant. The only time mass protest works is when leaders are timorous and easily shaken. If the leaders are, conversely, determined to remain in power and use as much violence as necessary, then protests are pointless. Even in a nation like the USA, nearly a decade of performative protesting achieved precisely no change to the USA's involvement in VietNam. Withdrawal was due to the long-overdue recognition that the costs were huge but the benefits negligible. Protests had no influence on the decision.

As Putin is clearly ready and able to use every necessary means to remain in power, the only way to change the situation is (i) to assassinate Putin and his immediate gang, (ii) totally destroy the Russian military, leading to major instability in the circles of power, or (iii) destroy all Russian economic infrastructure: oil, gas, electricity, water.

As none of these three things will occur, it's clear that Putin may easily outlast our milquetoast support of Ukraine.