Provocations, Proxies and Plausible Deniability
I suggested before that one key advantage of not-so well conceiled Russian invasion with shallow 'plausible' deniability was that it offered an opening for those not willing to shoulder some costs of heavier sanctions.
Something which I have seen confused, also in this thread are Russia's and Putins goals. Obviously as long as Putin holds almost regime-like most strings of power he is able to dominate Russia's policy and opponents and 'partners' have to treat both as largely the same. However from an internal Russian point of view the difference can be quite stark and is likely to increase in the longer run after the propaganda-driven euphoria gives more space to the price paid.
Overall it is still early days and it is important to remember how many praised the 'smart' US foreign policy in Iraq in those early days. Things can change a lot in a couple of months, even more so in years. We will see then clearer how smart Putins decisions were for his own good and for the Russian people...