Russia's President Vladimir Putin has admitted with remarkable frankness a "a colossal amount of trouble" as a result of Western sanctions.
That should prompt those in the West, especially in Germany, to stop and think, like a mantra, that Western sanctions against Russia are ineffective.
It is true that there is no generally accepted theory of economic sanctions from which the effect of such measures could be derived with certainty.
However, it should not be surprising if an economy that is still heavily geared towards raw material exports and dependent on technology imports in many sectors begins to feel the loss of Western technology supplies over time.
Putin accompanied his acknowledgment of the effectiveness of Western sanctions with the assurance that Russia would rise to the challenge.
Time will tell.
In any case, Putin's statement illustrates a widespread tendency in the West to overestimate Russia economically and underestimate its own resources.