As our news desk reports, the Russian authorities are holding a census in the occupied region of Crimea:
The population count, which began on October 14 and ends on October 25, is the first on the Black Sea peninsula since Russia annexed it from Ukraine in March.
Crimean Statistics Service official Yelena Tvirovich told journalists that residents will be given a census form with 33 questions.
They include address, type of housing, family status, income, and ethnic identity.
The census comes amid what rights activists say is a crackdown on Crimean Tatars, a Turkic-speaking Muslim group whose members largely opposed the annexation.
According to a 2001 census, Crimea's population was 2.34 million, with more than 60 percent identifying themselves as Russian, 24 percent as Ukrainian, and 12.4 percent as Crimean Tatars.
Russia held a nationwide census in 2010 and plans another in 2020. (RIA Novosti and TASS)
Reuters reports on Russian hackers attacking NATO, Ukraine:
Russian hackers exploited a bug in Microsoft Windows and other software to spy on computers used by NATO, the European Union, Ukraine and companies in the energy and telecommunications sectors, according to cyber intelligence firm iSight Partners.
ISight said it did not know what data had been found by the hackers, though it suspected they were seeking information on the Ukraine crisis, as well as diplomatic, energy and telecom issues, based on the targets and the contents of phishing emails used to infect computers with tainted files.
The five-year cyber espionage campaign is still going on, according to iSight, which dubbed the operation "Sandworm Team" because it found references to the "Dune" science fiction series in the software code used by the hackers.
The operation used a variety of ways to attack the targets over the years, iSight said, adding that the hackers began only in August to exploit a vulnerability found in most versions of Windows.
ISight said it told Microsoft Corp about the bug and held off on disclosing the problem so the software maker had time to fix it.
A Microsoft spokesman said the company plans to roll out an automatic update to affected versions of Windows on Tuesday.
There was no immediate comment from the Russian government, NATO, the EU or the Ukraine government.
Researchers with Dallas-based iSight said they believed the hackers are Russian because of language clues in the software code and because of their choice of targets.
Lithuania prepares for similar "hybrid" attacks as Ukraine suffered this year:
Lithuania is creating a rapid-reaction force to counter unconventional threats highlighted by the crisis in Ukraine.
The Baltic country's top general said on October 13 that 2,500 troops will be on high alert and ready to respond to "hybrid warfare" involving unconventional attacks by unmarked combatants, like those in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
Major General Jonas Vytautas Zukas told reporters: "We must immediately increase our readiness for unplanned military actions during peacetime."
He said new threats include "manipulating national minorities, provocations, attacks by nonstate armed groups, illegal border crossing, [and] breach of military transit procedures."
Kyiv and NATO accuse Russia of using those tactics to annex Crimea in March and aid pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Russia denies involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
NATO member Lithuania's new force is to begin operating on November 1. (AFP and Xinhua)
That concludes our live blogging for Monday, October 13.
From our newsroom:
The Russian ruble hit new all-time lows against the euro and dollar on October 13 despite recent government intervention.
The ruble dropped to 51.33 to the euro -- breaking the previous low from March -- and fell to 40.49 to the dollar.
The record lows came after Russian Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina said the bank had pumped some $6 billion into propping up the currency since October 3.
International sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and Moscow's support for pro-Russian rebels have cut several major Russian firms off from key international debt markets.
Russia's oil-dependent economy is also hurt by low oil prices, dropping to $88 per barrel on October 13.
The International Monetary Fund said capital flight from Russia will reach some $100 billion this year and inflation is more than 8 percent.
Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax