On February 16, researchers at the Moscow-based security group Kaspersky Lab announced the discovery of the ultimate virus which has virtually infected all spheres of military and civilian computing in more than 40 countries around the world. They've managed to discover a piece of malware that must have been installed on hard disks while they were still being manufactured, and due to its complexity and a certain number of features that it shares with Stuxnet, it's safe to assume that it was created by US secret services.
On February 18, The Guardian confirmed that for the last 7 years Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had been sharing personal intelligence data en masse with America's national security agencies, regardless of the fact that it had intercepted millions of foreign citizens' conversations. The ruling of a UK court clearly suggests that these actions were illegal on top of being carried out in violation of the the European Convention on Human Rights.
On February 19, it was announced that the National Security Agency (NSA) along with its British partner in crime - GCHQ, has manged to steal encryption keys from Gemalto - the world's largest manufacturer of SIM-cards. This allowed the above named intelligence agencies to tap any phone and intercept data from any mobile device that was using a SIM-card produced by Gemalto. This conspiracy was unveiled by The Intercept, which added that Gemalto was created nine years ago when the French company Axalto merged with Gemplus International which was operating in Luxembourg. Today Gemalto has more that 85 offices across the globe along with a total of 40 factories, working in close cooperation with leading telecommunication corporations, including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, along with many others. Representatives of the three aforementioned companies refused to comment on this scandal.
Comment: There is no need for "extreme measures" - e.g., Minsk 3 talks, recognizing DPR/LPR - "for now". But Kiev cannot possibly implement Minsk 2. They cannot control their Nazi volunteer battalions, and the parliament would have to be strong-armed into compromising with DPR and LPR politically. What will happen when all possible diplomatic options are exhausted?