Closing summary
Russia is observing a nationwide day of mourning for the worst terror attack on the country’s soil in two decades. The official number of those left injured rose to 154 and Russian authorities raised the death toll to 137 people, including three children, up from an earlier estimate of 133, the Investigation Committee said. It also said 62 bodies have been identified. Hundreds of people brought flowers and other tributes to the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, as local emergency workers continued to search for anyone who may have been left wounded or dead inside the severely damaged entertainment complex.
The suspects in the Crocus City Hall shooting have reportedly been brought to the Investigation Committee’s headquarters in Moscow.
The UK’s chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, condemned the Kremlin after it appeared to seek to link Ukraine to the attack, which the Islamic State (IS) group has claimed responsibility for. “We have very little confidence in anything the Russian government says. We know that they are creating a smokescreen of propaganda to defend an utterly evil invasion of Ukraine,” he said.
The White House said that Ukraine had “no involvement whatsoever” in the concert hall massacre. “Isis bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever,” White House national security council spokesperson, Adrienne Watson, said.
Russia launched its third massive missile attack on Ukraine in the past four days, and the second to target the capital of Kyiv, with Poland’s military saying that one of the missiles launched at western Ukraine briefly entered its airspace on Sunday. The operation command of Poland, a Nato member, said in a statement that there was a violation of Polish airspace at 4:23 am (0323GMT) by one of the cruise missiles launched by Russia against towns in western Ukraine. The object entered near the Polish town of Oserdów and stayed there for 39 seconds, the statement said.
The Polish foreign ministry said it would “demand explanations from the Russian Federation in connection with another violation of the country’s airspace”. The ministry intends to summon the Russian ambassador over the airspace violation, deputy foreign minister Andrzej Szejna told private broadcaster Polsat News.
Poland’s defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, told reporters that the Russian missile would have been shot down had there been any indication that it was heading towards a target in Poland. Polish and Nato F-16s were activated as part of the strategic response.
Ukraine sharply increased imports of electricity and halted exports on Sunday after a significant wave of missile and drone attacks on the country’s energy system. “For the current day, electricity imports are forecast at 14,900 megawatt hour (Mwh). No exports are expected,” Ukraine’s energy ministry said in a statement.
The Ukrainian military said that it struck two large Russian landing ships and a communications centre used by Russia’s Black Sea Fleet during overnight strikes on the annexed Crimean peninsula. “The defence forces of Ukraine successfully hit the Azov and Yamal large landing ships, a communications centre and also several infrastructure facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in temporarily occupied Crimea,” Ukraine’s military said.
This blog is closing now but you can read all our Ukraine coverage here.
Updated
Nato F-16s activated after Russian missile 'violated Poland's airspace'
As we reported earlier, the armed forces operational command of Poland, a Nato member, said there was a violation of Polish airspace at 4:23am (0323 GMT) by one of the cruise missiles launched by Russia against towns in western Ukraine.
Poland’s defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, has told reporters that the Russian missile would have been shot down had there been any indication that it was heading towards a target in Poland.
He said that Polish authorities monitored the attack on Ukraine and was in contact with Ukrainian counterparts, the Associated Press reports. Polish and Nato F-16s were activated as part of the strategic response.
“As last night’s rocket attack on Ukraine was one of the most intense since the beginning of the Russian aggression, all the strategic procedures were launched on time and the object was monitored until it left the Polish airspace,” he said.
