Summary
It’s coming up to 7pm UK time. Here’s a summary of all today’s events:
The daughter of an ultranationalist Russian ideologue and ally of Vladimir Putin has been killed in a car bomb on the outskirts of Moscow. Darya Dugina, whose father is the Russian political commentator Alexander Dugin, died when the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving was ripped apart by a powerful explosion about 12 miles (20km) west of the capital near the village of Bolshiye Vyazemy at about 9.30pm local time (7.30pm BST), according to investigators.
Ex-Russian MP Ilya Ponomarev claims Russian partisan group the National Republican Army is responsible for the Moscow car bomb.
Ukraine has denied involvement in the death of Darya Dugina amid fears the car bombing raises the stakes in the Russia-Ukraine war. Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s top adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, told Ukrainian TV: “I confirm that Ukraine, of course, had nothing to do with this because we are not a criminal state, like the Russian Federation, and moreover we are not a terrorist state.”
British PM Boris Johnson and the leaders of the US, France and Germany stressed the importance of ensuring the safety of nuclear sites in Ukraine in a call, Johnson’s office said. “On a joint call, Johnson, US president Joe Biden, French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz underlined their steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Russia’s defence ministry said it has destroyed an ammunition depot containing missiles for US-made rocket systems and other Western-made anti-aircraft systems in Ukraine’s Odesa region, according to a report by Reuters.
Czechs have been sending money to Ukraine in memory of the 1968 invasion. Czech nationals have been sending exactly 1,968 crowns ($80) to Ukraine to help it defend itself against Russia and to commemorate the 1968 invasion of then Czechoslovakia by Soviet-led troops.
Government employees in Kyiv have been told to work from home this week, over fears that the centre will be targeted with Russian missiles.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned Ukrainians to be vigilant in the coming week as they prepare to celebrate their independence day on Wednesday. In his nightly video address on Saturday, Zelenskiy said Ukrainians must not allow Moscow to “spread despondency and fear” as they mark the 31st anniversary of independence from Soviet rule. “We must all be aware that this week Russia could try to do something particularly ugly, something particularly vicious,” Zelenskiy said.
The curfew in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, will be extended for the entire day on Wednesday, regional governor Oleh Synehub said on Saturday. The north-eastern city is regularly hit by Russian shelling and normally has a curfew from 10pm to 6am but extra precautions were required on independence day.
Ukraine launched a fresh strike on Russia’s Black Sea fleet headquarters at Sevastopol earlier on Saturday. Officials in the annexed Crimean peninsula said that at least one drone had been shot down and that the city’s air defence system had been called into action again on Saturday night.
Video shared on Twitter appeared to show Russian air defences attempting to destroy the UAV and dark plumes of smoke rising from the city.
Three people with Russian and Ukrainian passports have been arrested for suspected spying after trying to break into a military base and arms factory in central Albania, the Albanian defence ministry said on Saturday. Two Albanian soldiers were injured in the incident at the Gramsh base, the ministry said, adding the conditions of the soldiers was stable. Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, said the three individuals are “suspected of espionage”.
Updated
Ex-Russian MP claims Russian partisans responsible for Moscow car bomb
Speaking in Kyiv, Ilya Ponomarev alleges that the bomb that killed the daughter of a Vladimir Putin ally earlier on Sunday was the work of underground group the National Republican Army.
The Guardian has not verified the authenticity of Ponomarev’s claims. Russian officials have blamed Ukraine for the attack, a claim Kyiv strongly denies.
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