[HIGHLIGHTS] Russian air defenses began to work out the protection of the north-western border in connection with the expansion of NATO

Russia has joined the North Atlantic Alliance. The move is in response to the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (IS) The IS has claimed responsibility for the attack on MH17, which killed 298 people.

The IS claims responsibility for a number of other attacks on Russian soil, including the bombing of a Russian air base in the Baltic Sea, as well as attacks on a Russian naval vessel. The Russian military says it has no plans to pull out of the alliance, which it has been in since the 1990s.