Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, many countries have placed sanctions on the sovereign in efforts to cripple their system and stop the war.

Sanctions are penalties or punishments for disobeying rules; they typically are imposed by one country to another in the face of war.

Many countries like the United States, Europe and Canada have placed a variety of heavy sanctions on Russia and its wealthy economy in an attempt to stop Russia from invading Ukraine and murdering its people.

Bans and increased tax on luxury goods, vodka and travel are being put into effect, Russian oil companies have been shut out from its imports and international companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks are gradually suspending their trades.

Because Russia’s economy thrives on growing from oil sales and trades, many countries believe that these sanctions will cause Russia to change their course of action to ease the punishments.

But will these sanctions on Russia really work? Can we seriously stop Vladmir Putin from commanding his army into Ukraine and other countries by punishing Russia like a child?

Well, it’s been a few weeks and has Putin backed down from his war? No.

Putting sanctions on Russia will not work. For one, while our countries are threatening to put Russia on time-out, we are suffering from inflation as Putin threatens to cut off our gas and other exported necessities completely.

Folk are left scrambling to get the most out of the pumps at their local gas stations, many are sacrificing long trips to different cities for the cheapest prices, and some are even resorting to stealing gas from other cars.

Sanctions will not stop Putin from continuing to invade Ukraine because they have experience in receiving sanctions so there will always be workarounds for them.

While the economy will definitely take some hits, history has shown that sanctions will not stop Putin from getting what he wants; he has also insisted this, himself, in press statements.

Even if Russia eventually runs out of money, it won’t be quick enough to save or help Ukraine.; They do not benefit from the U.S. standing on the sidelines taunting Russia anyhow.

If we really want to stop Putin, instead of sanctioning Russia and sitting by the television waiting to hear his retreat we should actually do something to help Ukraine.

Various social media platforms have gone to multiple extents to share links to pages raising funds to send to Ukrainian programs and troops in an effort to show their support.

Some people are also making attempts to start their own fundraisers to help Ukraine by selling handmade products and food, creating pages linked to bigger organizations and even donating a portion of their small business profits.

It is obvious that much of these funds are actually helping Ukraine- and at a much faster and more effective pace, too.

Something greater can be done here if we really want to bring Putin’s plans to a halt. And because president Joe Biden doesn’t seem like he wants to do much to help Ukraine, we must continue to show our support in the best ways that we can.