The annual New Year's address in Russia, given in the waning moments of the old year, is usually a chance for the president to list the country's accomplishments, recall the year's high points and wish everyone a happy holiday.
But as Russian President Vladimir Putin rang in 2015, his tone was decidedly more measured as he glossed over the bulk of geopolitical shifts Russia experienced or caused in the past year, and quietly warned the Russian people to brace for more hardships.
Remember that Crimea is ours, he said, and that the Olympics were a success - and thanks for sticking together through everything else. Please continue to do so.
Putin has managed to ride through a year of geopolitical ups and downs with his approval rating at about 85 per cent last month.
But the events of 2014 pose a challenge to Putin's legacy, built on his reputation as a leader who brought prosperity back to Russia after difficult years of post-Soviet transition.
In the past nine months - since the annexation of Crimea - Russia has witnessed its relations with the West deteriorate to levels of hostility not seen since before perestroika.
Its major industries have been all but locked out of the global lending markets, and the value of the rouble and the price of oil - exports of which form the bedrock of Russia's economy - have plummeted.