Putin will, I believe be looking for a quick result as his status at home may not be as brilliant as portrayed in the press. Demonstrations in cities across Russia against the war are already being reported. If the body bags start to multiply he might find holding onto power difficult?
Obviously all my knowledge is second hand – but has been thought about! Unlike some of the comments in papers and by politicians. So here goes – Putin like all despots has surrounded himself with supporters who depend on him for support (Nadine Dorries are you reading?). Cutting off their money via sanctions will have minimal impact on him at first – but Russia is a huge country and the “Emperors” of areas like Siberia with mineral wealth will perhaps flex their muscles if things are going badly in Ukraine.
Money always seems to be found for wars (I keep typing this!), but Russia is not a wealthy country. Wikipedia shows it to be 85th in terms of GDP per capita – behind Costa Rica and Palau, Maldives and even Iran! – marginally above the world average. Ukraine was 133rd at a third of Russia’s.
So this is not about an economic resource – more like Thatcher’s Malvinas Campaign which bolstered her failing government. It is about the man himself – although I suspect that the KGB he was formerly in charge of have a similar role in Russia to our aristocracy in the UK. (29% of MP’s were privately educated and 65% Judges). These stats are horrendous and must be changed!