TODAY: Nato commander warns of imminent and swift Ukraine invasion; Foreign Ministry accuses alliance of reviving Cold War; NASA bans contact with Kremlin reps; capital flight continues; Moscow ups arms deliveries to Syria; Lavrov wants international recognition for Russia’s aid donations; Russian Railways corruption scandal brewing; Putins finalise divorce.

Nato military commander Philip Breedlove has warned of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling Russia’s troops a ‘very capable and very ready force’, and suggesting that large areas of Ukrainian territory could be taken in a matter of days.  The New York Times says the ‘sleek, new’ troops lining Ukraine’s border exhibit various signs of having recently undergone an upgrade.  The Foreign Ministry described Nato’s decision to suspend cooperation with Russia as reminiscent of ‘Cold War sword-swinging’.  One Nato official suggested that the alliance ‘may have had an overly optimistic view of Russia for many years’.  Repercussions of the Crimea annexation continue: NASA members have been banned from contacting Kremlin representatives; Western banks are tightening payment procedures for steel and grain deals; the U.S. has suspended a number of bilateral projects with Russia and plans to transfer its funding to Ukraine; and a new app to help Android users identify and boycott Russian goods is apparently gaining popularity in Ukraine.  Investors and capital in general are ‘fleeing’ from Russia in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, says the WSJ.  Sergei Guriev laments the death of Russia’s economic growth, blaming the current situation on years of corruption and arguing that, in turn, the annexation of Crimea is a logical outcome: ‘[O]nce economic growth is gone, territorial expansion is an authoritarian regime’s tool of choice for […] holding on to power.’  A representative of Vladimir Putin tried to reassure young Siberian scientists that new housing incentives and high wages will put an end to the brain drain.  But what about the politically-driven outflows?  Pavel Durov’s exit from VKontakte, the social networking website that he founded, is raising questions about internet freedom.