The Russian economy (catch all)

[AmericanPride]

Some more reasons why Russia is unlikely to alter its course in Ukraine in response to sanctions:

In a poll conducted Sept. 19-22 among 1,600 respondents in 46 Russian regions, 71 percent of Russians believe that the main purpose of Western sanctions is “to weaken and humiliate Russia.”

Sixty-eight percent of the respondents believe Russia should “continue its policy” in retaliation against the sanctions, almost a fifth (22 percent) call for “seeking a compromise and making concessions in order to stop the sanctions” and 10 percent are undecided.

So essentially it appears that as of September, Western sanctions have strengthened not weakened the Russian public's resolve.