Improvise and innovate have become the watchwords for both the Russian and Ukrainian militaries as they try to outwit each other on the ground, at sea and in the air.

Also last month, Sberbank CEO German Gref, one of Russia’s top banking chiefs, said the economy was in “technical stagnation,” And in June, Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov warned that Russia was “on the brink” of a recession.