OREANDA-NEWS NATO's total defense spending in 2021 increased by $270 billion or 3.1% compared to 2020. This was stated by Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during his annual security report in Brussels, Russian media TASS reports. He noted that last year was the seventh in a row when the organization's defense spending has consistently increased. «The total defense spending of the North Atlantic Alliance increased by $270 billion in 2021», Stoltenberg said.

Earlier, State Duma deputy Colonel-General Vladimir Shamanov assessed the likelihood of a military clash between Russia and NATO forces. He stressed that there would be no such conflict. The parliamentarian explained this by saying that the alliance is an organization that did not support either the request of Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky or the initiative of Poland. At the same time, he added that the Russian army, after modernization, is guaranteed to protect the territory and airspace of its country, and possible aggressors will receive a worthy response.

Earlier it was reported that hackers, presumably based in Russia, tried to attack virtual objects of several Eastern European countries and the NATO center of excellence. According to the company, it's all about Coldriver, a Russian hacker group, also known as Callisto, engaged in phishing mailings. This is discussed in the Google report.