With the Russian economy continuing to plummet as a result of western sanctions and low oil prices, the Kremlin seems to be sticking to its reliance on hydrocarbon exports, as oil revenues still account for 44% of the federal budget. For the 25 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian government has done little to relieve the economy from its dependence on oil and gas, and with the value of the ruble at a record low, many experts worry that it may be too late to diversify …

In an interview with the Ukrainian News, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be able to reform within five years in order to fully comply with NATO standards. According to Poltorak, it will take three years to reform the Ministry of Defense.

“How long will it take to reach the military standards and principles required to qualify for NATO membership? I believe that we can reform the Ministry of Defense in three years. We will need funding to …

An Adviser to the Chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), Yuri Tandit, stated that illegally armed groups hold about 140 Ukrainian citizens as prisoners, and the SSU has found the exact location of 57 of them. “We know the exact location of 57 people. We have seen traces of others, there are almost 140 hostages in Ukraine. We hope that Russia, as a participant of the Minsk Agreements, will do everything in its power to accelerate the exchange of prisoners,” Yuri Tandit said.

Tandit …

The founder of the Bellingcat group of experts, Eliot Higgins, announced that the company has further narrowed the list of people thought to be involved in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Twenty Russian servicemen are included on the newest version of the list. In an interview with the Dutch magazine NOS, Higgins stated that the Bellingcat report with the names and pictures of suspects was handed over to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Netherlands.

The Prosecutor’s Office confirmed …

According to a statement released by the Interfax news agency, Colonel General Igor Sergun, the director of GRU (Russia’s military intelligence agency) unexpectedly died on Sunday at the age of 58.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu did not specify the cause of death and offered no additional details.

Igor Sergun joined the Soviet military in 1973, in 1984 he joined military intelligence and became chief of the GRU in 2011.

Last year the US and European Union added Sergun to the sanction …