The Russian economy has proven resilient to Western sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine and can sustain the current madness for a long time, writes The Telegraph.
Russia's economy, while showing clear signs of stress, is easily capable of sustaining the war in Ukraine for many years to come.
The West has proven naive in thinking that sanctions will make Vladimir Putin stop the war.
Russia has found it relatively easy to circumvent sanctions or find alternative trading partners to fill the gaps left by former Western suppliers and customers. Europe continues to buy significant amounts of energy from Russia, and the United States has issued numerous import permits for everything from fertilizers to nuclear fuel rods.
Ultimately, the sanctions have not had the desired effect. The latest, the 18th such package by the European Union, is just as likely to fail.
Of course, there is good reason to dispute the Russian data. Putin lies about almost everything else, so why not about the economy? Economic statistics are easily manipulated in autocratic regimes.
But the Russian economy is far from the collapse that many Western commentators seemed to imagine.
It is not only Russia that has managed to cope relatively well with this seemingly endless war. The Ukrainian economy has also proven remarkably resilient in the face of enormous defense spending.
Putin has enough resources to continue the war. The demographic decline, exacerbated by the horrific toll the war is taking on Russia's youth, poses a serious threat to its long-term economic health. But it's a problem for the future. There are many things that could bring Putin down - but the economy is clearly not one of them.