I know that one solution for problem with Russian symbols not being inputted correctly to database exist, but here's more simpler way to handle this problem:

sapphire\core\model\MySqlDatabase.php

	public function __construct($parameters) {
		$this->dbConn = mysql_connect($parameters['server'], $parameters['username'], $parameters['password']);
		mysql_set_charset('utf8', $this->dbConn); //add this
		$this->active = mysql_select_db($parameters['database'], $this->dbConn);

Don't forget database/tables/columns in your db are utf8_general_ci if not - alter them BEFORE you add any text in Russian.

This fix work only with php5 (or mysqli module for php4). So use it only if your hosting provider can offer you php5 support.

Only one problem is - you need to add this line after every update of the code...

Good luck.