The admission of Ukraine to Nato could result in a third world war, Moscow warned yesterday, as Russian missiles pounded more than 40 Ukrainian cities and towns and Nato allies unveiled plans to beef up Europe`s air defences.
"Kyiv is well aware that such a step would mean a guaranteed escalation to a World War Three," TASS cited the deputy secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Alexander Venediktov, as saying.
Fourteen European allies yesterday signed up to a German plan to buy new air defence systems together, as Nato looks to bolster its ability to deal with the threat from Russia.
"We are living in threatening, dangerous times," said German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht at the signing ceremony where Germany and European Nato members committed to jointly procuring weapons for a "European Sky Shield" to better protect their territory.
Moscow renewed warnings that more military aid for Kyiv agreed earlier this week at the Nato meeting made members of the US-led military alliance "a direct party to the conflict."
Nato is not likely to quickly allow Ukraine to join, not least because its membership during an ongoing war would put the United States and allies into direct conflict with Russia under the alliance`s collective defence clause.
Ahead of the meeting of Nato`s defence ministers, including close-door talks by its nuclear planning group, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin yesterday reaffirmed Washington`s commitment to defend "every inch" of members` territory.
Even before the invasion, Nato had dragged its feet on Ukrainian membership. Shortly after Russia`s assault began Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signalled he was willing to consider neutrality.
Zelensky has since asked for fast-track membership, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed partially occupied regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as Russian land on September 30.
The annexation sparked international outrage. On Wednesday the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted condemning it as "illegal".
In the past 24 hours, Russian missiles hit more than 40 settlements, while Ukrainian air force carried out 32 strikes on 25 Russian targets, reports Reuters.
The southern port city of Mykolaiv came under massive bombardment. "It is known that a number of civilian objects were hit," regional governor Vitaly Kim said in a social media post.
He said the top two floors of a five-storey residential building were completely destroyed and the rest were under rubble. Ukraine`s Prosecutor General`s Office said three people were killed in the strike.
Russia also targeted a settlement in the region of Ukraine`s capital Kyiv, where three drone strikes hit critical infrastructure early yesterday. Governor of the Kyiv region, Oleksiy Kuleba, said that based on preliminary information the strikes were caused by Iranian-made loitering munitions, often known as "kamikaze drones".
At a face-to-face meeting in the capital of Kazakhstan yesterday, Putin proposed to his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that Moscow could export more gas via Turkey and turn it into a new supply "hub", bidding to preserve Russia`s energy leverage over Europe.
Erdogan did not respond in the televised portion of their meeting, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the Russian news agency RIA as saying both men had ordered a rapid and detailed examination of the idea.
In Ukraine`s southern Kherson region, the Russian-installed governor appealed for residents to take their children and leave. The official, Vladimir Saldo, asked for Moscow`s help in transporting civilians into Russia, saying the cities in the region were subject to missile attacks.
Since August, Kherson has been the centre of a major Ukrainian counter-offensive in which Kyiv says it has retaken more than 1,170 sq km of land.
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