The country’s military warned that Russia had put five warships and submarines carrying cruise missiles into the Black Sea and that Moscow was deploying air defense systems in Belarus. Large gatherings have been banned in Kyiv for four days since Monday. On Saturday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that “Russia may try to do something particularly bad, something particularly cruel” this week as the country celebrates the 31st anniversary of its independence. The country’s armed forces also warned on Sunday night that Russia had closed the airspace over the Russian border regions of Lipetsk, Voronezh and regions between August 22 and 25. Tensions between the two warring countries risked further escalating after the killing of Daria Dugina, whose father is Russian political commentator Alexander Dugin, on the outskirts of Moscow on Saturday night. Investigations into the killing continued, although some Russian hawks tried – without evidence – to blame Ukraine, which in turn denied any involvement in the attack, saying it was “not a terrorist state”. On Sunday night, a former member of the Russian Duma now based in Kyiv, who was expelled for anti-Kremlin activities, claimed that a previously unknown group of Russian rebels was behind the attack. Ilya Ponomarev claimed the deadly blast was the work of the National Republican Army, which he said was an underground group working in Russia dedicated to toppling the Putin regime. “This action, like many other party actions that took place on the territory of Russia in recent months, was carried out by the National Republican Army (NRA),” Ponomarev said, speaking on his YouTube channel. The Guardian has not verified the authenticity of the claims. Concern about whether Russia would step up its attacks on Ukraine’s independence day has been in the air for some time and predates the Moscow car bomb. But it could be used as an additional pretext by Moscow. Prominent Russian hawks who blame Kyiv for the car bombing have called it an “assassination attempt” and called on the Kremlin to respond by targeting government officials in Kyiv. “Decision making centers!! Decision making centers!!!” wrote Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the state-funded RT television station, reposting a call for a bomb attack on the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that if a Ukrainian connection is confirmed and verified by the relevant authorities, “then we will have to talk about the policy of state terrorism implemented by the Kiev regime.” If the car bombing is definitively linked to the war, it will be the first time since February that the violence unleashed in Ukraine has reached the Russian capital, touching the family of a Kremlin ally near one of Moscow’s most exclusive districts. Kyiv categorically denied the allegations. “Ukraine has absolutely nothing to do with this, because we are not a criminal state like Russia, nor a terrorist one,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskiy, said in televised remarks. Keir Giles, a Russia expert at thinktank Chatham House, said it was unclear whether Ponomarev’s claims about the NRA were true: “How the Kremlin responds depends on whether this is a genuine resistance movement or a sophisticated Russian-style smoke and mirrors conspiracy – and we may not know for quite some time.” The explosion occurred shortly after Dugina left the Tradition cultural festival at an estate where her father had given a lecture. The two were expected to leave together but instead got into separate cars, a friend said. Five minutes later, a bomb exploded in the car Dugina was driving, killing her instantly. Witnesses said debris was thrown across the road as the car burst into flames before crashing into a fence. Dugin is known for developing a far-right view of Russia’s place in the world and has previously advocated violence against Ukraine, while his daughter held similar views. He has been labeled a “Russian fascist” and is a known conspiracy theorist. Some claim he helped shape the Russian president’s expansionist foreign policy. However, Dugin’s influence on Putin remains a matter of speculation, with many insiders saying his influence in the Kremlin was minimal. Investigators believed the bombing was “premeditated and of a conventional nature,” said Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, Russia’s main federal investigative authority. Andrey Krasnov, Dugina’s friend and head of the Russian social movement Horizon, confirmed the reports, according to the Tass news agency. She said the bomb could have been intended for her father. “This was father’s vehicle. Daria was driving another car, but she took his car today, while Alexander took a different route. He returned, he was at the scene of the tragedy. As far as I understand, Alexander or possibly they together were the target,” Krasnov said. However, independent Russian news agency Agentstvo reported that leaked government databases showed the car was registered to Daria, not her father. Footage on social media appeared to show him on stage in distress. Investigators said they had opened a homicide case and would conduct forensic tests to try to determine what happened. They said they were looking at “all options” when it came to finding who was responsible.
