An interview with Timothy Frye, Marshall D. Shulman Professor of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy, about the effects of sanctions on Putin aired on CNN last Friday (4/15). He said,

“I’m sure he [Putin] is frustrated by the western response, which has been much more vigourous than – I think – anybody expected. Domestically, I bet he’s disappointed because there’s been nothing like the surge of enthusiasm that happened after the annexation of Crimea. I tend to categorize support for the war effort in Russia, at the moment, as fairly broad, but also shallow in that this is not the most important issue for most Russians, either the elites or masses and it’s also quite conditional. As the economy deteriorates, and should the losses on the battlefield increase dramatically, I do think we’ll see much more expressions of opposition to the war effort.”