What do you expect, really? Russians live in feudalism, only with modern technology. They haven't known anything other than totalitarian regimes, and when they had a little democracy after '91, it all fell apart for most of them. Maybe all of the interested parties should read a bit of Russian literature? If you want shortcuts, just read Vladimir Sorokin, but it's really more nuanced. The thing about suffering is also very enshrined in the Eastern Orthodox mindset.
* “the Russians have the ability to expect and endure a tremendous amount of suffering”.. “they have made suffering a virtue”
* “global recession is not really a problem to Russia since they are in a recession all the time anyway”
Kind of suggestive that what's happening won't be over anytime soon.