War is hell.
People have been warning for years that Russia would continue attacking neighboring countries every other year or so, since it has been going on for years.
Can’t blame the world for finally starting to fight back.
If the UK government had war gamed this scenario, they would have realized many preparatory actions that could have been taken to protect their economy.
The main reason why the West is in rapid decline at the moment is because it is adopting policies based on their therapeutic value to the administrative class, rather than their effectiveness. That's a recipe for failure, and if you want to succeed rather than fail, then you need to choose your actions carefully and strategically rather than slamming your head against a granite wall because you think this means you are "fighting back".
The Ukraine situation is also a message to China, which makes it more worthwhile.
But you are right, they do send a "message", which is that the West is an irrational actor that undermines its own interests, and is thus an untrustworthy ally. This is why Saudi Arabia and Turkey are moving away from the U.S. towards the emerging Axis of Sanity
The idea that we must perform an ineffective and self-destructive measure just because it's the only one we can think of doing is not good statecraft.