There is no set playbook—the Russians burned that up on day one. Vladimir Putin has invaded a neighboring sovereign state without any provocation, warning, or a formal declaration of war. The Russian war machine conducts daily violations of the laws of war and the Geneva Conventions which guide combat operations: artillery and mortar attacks on civilian populations, strikes against medical facilities, starvation and deprivation of critical necessities of life to civilians, and an attack on a nuclear power plant.

With the reported pending addition of notorious Syrian and Chechen units to the mix, you can count on adding widespread looting, mass rapes, organized plunder, and sack of besieged cities to the list. The presence of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a serial violator of every standard of conduct in a war zone, is especially ominous. The video images that will inevitably emerge from the weeks ahead will be excruciating to watch.