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News Desk: NATO has declared Russia the “most significant and direct threat” to its members’ peace and security, the 30-member alliance said t in a statement at a summit in Madrid on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told NATO leaders on Wednesday his country needed more advanced weapons and money to defend itself against Russia, warning that Moscow’s ambitions did not stop at Ukraine. He put the monthly cost of defending Ukraine against Russia’s invasion at about $5 billion.
Russia is pursuing a ‘scorched-earth policy’ in Ukraine, said Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai. His comments come a day after a Russian missile hit a shopping mall in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk. Russia has denied hitting the mall, saying that it had struck a nearby depot of US and European arms triggering an explosion which ignited a fire in the mall.
Governor Gaidai said that Luhansk region’s Lysychansk has seen increased military action. “The situation in Lysychansk is very difficult,” Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on television. “The Russians are using every weapon available to them … and without distinguishing whether targets are military or not — schools, kindergartens, cultural institutions,” he said. “Everything is being destroyed. This is a scorched-earth policy.”
