It would help to understand a bit of Russian/Ukrainian culture here as well. When the man - who likely has all the money - can just as easily trade in his wife for a younger, probably more adoring version, it doesn't take a whole lot to piss him off. It's all about options. When I lived in Moscow, it was about 8 to 1 women to men ratio. Finding another girl when the one you had did something relatively annoying was an exceptionally easy process.
Given that many Russian men have mistresses and a surprising amount of Russian women/girls look for "sponsors" (someone who will pay for their flat, etc in exchange for sex, etc) the whole idea of the sanctity of marriage isn't the same as in the West. This is not to paint a broad stroke across everyone in eastern Europe, but it was quite common in larger more "cosmopolitan" circles of Moscow, Kiev, etc.