Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) on Monday accused Ukrainian intelligence services of being behind the killing of Darya Dugina, the daughter of Russian ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugin, in a car bombing on the outskirts of Moscow. Ukraine has denied any involvement. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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9:16pm: US condemns the targeting of civilians, says State Dept, when asked about Dugina attack
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the US unequivocally condemns the intentional targeting of civilians anywhere, when asked about the killing of Darya Dugina in a car bomb attack near Moscow.
Speaking at a daily press briefing, Price declined to say whether Washington knew who was behind the attack but said there was no doubt that Russians would put forward "certain conclusions".
4:55pm: Charity helps equip the women fighting on Ukraine's front line
Following the February 24 Russian invasion, thousands of young women have signed up to serve in the Ukrainian army. They now form a highly respected and fully integrated part of the armed forces, but their equipment is often not designed with women in mind. A Ukrainian charitable organisation is trying to change that, as our team on the ground reports.
4:47pm: Russia requests UN meeting on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Russia has requested that the UN Security Council holds a meeting on Tuesday regarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported, citing deputy ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy.
Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, was overrun by Russian troops in March. It remains close to the frontlines, and has come under repeated shelling in recent weeks, raising fears of a nuclear disaster. Both Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for strikes on the plant.
4:30pm: FSB hasn’t presented ‘physical proof’ of Dugina’s alleged attacker
FRANCE 24’s Russia correspondent Nick Holdsworth examines the FSB’s claim that the attack on Darya Dugina was carried out by a Ukrainian woman identified as Natalia Vovk.
“The FSB hasn’t presented any physical proof,” of its claims, explains Holdsworth. “This is an unusually quick result.”
Addressing Russian claims that the Ukrainian secret services were responsible for the car bombing, Holdsworth says the attack “doesn’t really carry the modus operandi of Ukrainian special services", noting that the Ukrainians are concentrating on cutting Russian supply lines in the Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
3:49pm: Putin offers condolences to Dugin family for ‘vile crime’
Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his "sincere condolences" to the Dugin family following the killing of Darya Dugina in a car bombing near Moscow.
"A vile, cruel crime ended the life of Darya Dugina, a bright, talented person with a real Russian heart – kind, loving, sympathetic and open," Putin said in a message released by the Kremlin.
3:20pm: FSB says Dugina's attacker was a woman in a Mini Cooper
More details are coming in on the Russian spy agency FSB's claims that Ukrainian intelligence services killed Darya Dugina, daughter of Russian ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugin.
In a statement reported by Russian news agencies, the FSB identified the perpetrator of the attack as a woman named Natalia Vovk. According to the FSB statement, the attacker arrived in Russia in July 2022 with her daughter and rented an apartment in the same building where Dugina lived.
Vovk followed Dugina in a Mini Cooper with registration plates issued in Kazakhstan, Ukraine and in the Russia-backed self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" in eastern Ukraine, the FSB added.
The FSB said the attacker was at a festival outside Moscow that Dugin and his daughter attended on Saturday.
Ukraine has denied any involvement in the killing.
Kremlin-linked media have posted what they say is the attacker’s ID card. Several Russia experts have, however, questioned the credibility of the FSB claims.
2:53pm: Nearly 9,000 Ukrainian military personnel killed in Russian invasion
Nearly 9,000 Ukrainian military personnel have been killed in the war with Russia, according to the head of Ukraine's armed forces, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.
The toll appeared to be the first provided by Ukraine's military top brass since Russia's invasion on February 24.
Zaluzhnyi, the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's armed forces, told a conference held to honour military veterans and the families of those killed that children needed protection in several parts of the country including the capital Kyiv.
"They really do not understand anything that is going on and definitely need protection ... because their father has gone to the front and possibly is among the almost 9,000 heroes who have been killed," he said.
Zaluzhnyi provided no details and did not say whether the figure he cited included all service personnel killed in action, such as border guards.
1:49pm: 'A rather strange assertion'
One day on from the suspected car-bombing that killed Darya Dugina, the daughter of far-right Russian political pundit Alexander Dugin, "We're no further closer to knowing who may be responsible," said FRANCE 24's Russia correspondent Nick Holdsworth.
"The Kremlin has been very clear – they're pointing the finger at Kyiv. The Russian foreign ministry has said that this has the hallmarks of an operation by the Ukrainians [...] There was a rather strange assertion yesterday by a Russian [former] MP who's been living in Kyiv for some years now, Ilya Ponamarev. He said this was the work of something he calls the National Republican Army, which he says is a Russian partisan unit, which he says is determined to destabilise Putin's regime by carrying out targeted assassinations of legitimate targets.
At the same time, Holdsworth continued, "it's faintly possible that this is the work of the Russians themselves. Often in the past the finger's been pointed at Putin's involvement in explosions and terrorist acts designed to increase his support".
1:33pm: EU considers military training for Ukrainian forces
The European Union will debate the launch of a major training operation for Ukrainian forces in nearby nations, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday.
The proposal will be discussed next week at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Prague, Borrell told a press conference in Santander, in northern Spain.
"I hope it will be approved," he added. "Of course it would be a big mission, I think it would be a big mission," he said, adding "any mission has to be up to the level of the conflict".
1:32pm: Russia's FSB accuses Ukraine of murdering ultra-nationalist's daughter
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) on Monday accused Ukraine's secret services of carrying out the weekend murder of Darya Dugina, the daughter of an ultra-nationalist Russian ideologue, Russian news agencies reported.
Dugina, daughter of prominent ideologue Alexander Dugin, was killed on Saturday evening when a suspected explosive device blew up the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving, Russian investigators said. Ukraine has denied involvement.
The FSB said the attack was carried out by a Ukrainian woman born in 1979 whom it named.
7:14am: Russian forces pound Ukraine, Zelensky warns of more serious attacks
Russian forces pressed on with their offensive across several Ukrainian regions on Monday, while President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of the potential for more serious attacks ahead of Ukraine's 31st anniversary of independence from Soviet rule.
Artillery shells rained down on Nikopol, a city near Zaporizhzhia – Europe's biggest nuclear plant, while missiles struck near the Black Sea port of Odesa over the weekend.
Zelensky has called for vigilance, saying Moscow could try "something particularly ugly" ahead of Wednesday, which marks Ukraine's Independence Day and also half a year since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
6:14am: Germany must expect Russia to cut gas supply further, economy minister says
Germany has a good chance of getting through the coming winter without taking drastic measures but nonetheless faces a difficult time and must prepare for Russia to tighten gas supplies further, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday.
"We still have a very critical winter ahead of us. We have to expect that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will further reduce the gas," Habeck told German broadcaster ARD from Canada, where he is on a three-day trip with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
1:55am: Dennis Rodman planning Russia trip for jailed WNBA player Brittney Griner
Eccentric former NBA star Dennis Rodman is planning a trip to Russia in an effort to seek the release of imprisoned WNBA player Brittney Griner, NBC News reported on Sunday.
The network quoted Rodman as saying that he was hoping to fly to Russia this week in an attempt to help basketball superstar Griner, who was sentenced to nine years in jail by a Moscow court earlier this month on a drug charge.
"I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl," Rodman told NBC. "I'm trying to go this week."
No further details were provided by Rodman, who was speaking at a restaurant in Washington where he was attending a sports apparel convention, according to NBC.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
