Amid fears that a "frozen conflict" is developing in eastern Ukraine the BBC's Rayhan Demytrie examines life in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh, scene of one of the former Soviet Union's most protracted conflicts.
Russia will be more than happy to help maintain peace and stability in the region I'm sure.Keep an eye out for Armenia and Azerbaijan to open up a new front for the reconstitution of the Soviet boundaries:
Nagorno-Karabakh: 'Frozen' conflict threatens to reignite - BBC News
"Basically everything except military spending is cut by 10%, every budget item… in government agencies, in universities, everything," says Konstantin Sonin, professor of economics at the prestigious Higher School of Economics in Moscow.
"Almost everything related to education and healthcare in Russia is state-controlled or owned, so the staff are state employees. All of them are finding their salaries are being cut."
And the main reason, says prof Sonin, is the global drop in oil prices, which caused the rouble to plummet (though it has rallied somewhat since) and squeezed consumer spending.
Western sanctions also played a role, in cutting access to credit, discouraging foreign investment and undermining business confidence at home too .
But Sonin says the sanctions also helped mask the fact that the Russian economy was not growing even before the crisis over Ukraine. So in fact, sanctions have given the Kremlin an alibi.
Russia is carrying out a new military build-up in eastern Ukraine, massing troops on the border and deploying advanced air defences inside its neighbour, according to the US State Department.
More units are being deployed near Ukraine’s eastern frontier, giving Russia a stronger military presence than at any time since October.