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Angry Russians on Sunday called for attacks on Ukrainian government buildings after a top Putin ally was killed in a car bomb after a festival outside Moscow.
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denied any Ukrainian involvement: “We are not a criminal state, unlike Russia.” Ukrainian officials, however, have urged government workers in the capital to work remotely this week amid fears the buildings could come under attack.
“Kyiv will shiver”, headlines a headline about Russia Tsargrad.tv website, while RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan retweeted a call to bomb Ukraine’s intelligence agency headquarters in Kyiv. “Decision Centers! Decision Centers!! Decision Centers!!!” she said in a telegram station.
The Russian Investigative Committee said the blast destroyed Toyota Land Cruiser Darya Dugina, 29, a conservative commentator, who was driving near the village of Bolshie Vyazemy on Saturday evening. Rt reported that the vehicle belonged to his father, notorious anti-Western Russian nationalist Alexander Dugin, raising suspicions that he was the intended target.
The blast happened around 9 p.m. local time, shortly after Dugina left a festival where she attended a “Tradition and History” lecture hosted by her father, Russian authorities said.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on telegram that Russia would consider any Ukrainian involvement in the incident as “state terrorism”.
Latest developments:
►The Ukrainian army said it had destroyed two Russian ammunition depots in the villages of Chornobaivka in Kherson and Starytsia in Kharkiv. The Kremlin said it destroyed an ammunition depot in the Odessa region where missiles for the US HIMARS multiple rocket launchers were stored.
►Two Russians and a Ukrainian were arrested for alleged spying in an Albanian military factory. Albania, a NATO member since 2009, has firmly renounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and adhered to sanctions against Moscow.
►The United States will ship another $775 million arms package to Ukraineincluding long-range artillery munitions used to devastating effect on Russian forces, according to a senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity under Pentagon guidelines.
Russian military parades draw criticism from separatists
Russian extremist Igor Girkin, minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, has become an increasingly vocal critic of the Kremlin’s handling of the war in Ukraine, reports the British Ministry of Defense. Girkin published a grudgingly admiring review of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s conduct during the war, unlike Russia, where “at the end of the sixth month of the war … we play tank biathlons and organize music festivals military”.
The Defense Ministry says the armored biathlon was the final of the Russian International Military Games held near Moscow last week.
“A significant proportion of Russian military and security professionals probably believe it is inappropriate to continue to commit forces to military ceremonies in peacetime as Russian troops continue to suffer heavy casualties in Ukraine” , the Department of Defense said in an intelligence update on Sunday.
Ukraine’s losses top $100 billion, economist says
The direct losses of the Ukrainian economy due to the war reached 113.5 billion dollars, according to a Ukrainian economist. Maksym Nefyodov, head of reform support projects at the Kyiv Institute of Economics, said this during a nationwide TV marathon, Ukrinform reports. Images of the destruction and damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure, collected using drones and satellites, are being actively analyzed to record the damage caused and prepare for the restoration of devastated cities, Nefyodov said.
“There is another direction of our research – recovery needs,” Nefyvodov said. “And the project ‘Russia will pay’ is actively developing in this direction.”
Ukrainian detained after attack on Russian radar system
A former Ukrainian official has been arrested by Russian authorities in the occupied city of Melitopol, accused of committing acts of sabotage, the Russian administration announced on Sunday. Officials were accused of monitoring Russian military flights – and explosives components and manuals on the use of military arsenal were found at his home, the administration said in a post on its channel Telegram.
The announcement came a day after the Ukrainian military said it destroyed a Russian radar system and other equipment in the area.
“Tonight there were powerful explosions in Melitopol, which the whole city heard,” Melitopol Mayor Ivan Ferodov said. “According to preliminary data, (it was) a precise hit on one of the Russian military bases, which the Russian fascists are trying to restore for the umpteenth time in the airfield area.”
Ukrainians walk down the street of Kyiv with Russian tanks on display
Pedestrians on a Kyiv avenue saw destroyed Russian tanks on display Saturday, rolled over the platforms of Ukrainian trucks. The burnt-out tanks and aircraft carriers were brought to Khreshchatyk Boulevard leading to Maidan Square in central Kyiv, attracting public attention. Residents were able to walk next to the display of military vehicles with the street blocked off to traffic.
“It’s very beautiful that we did such an exhibition because patriotic places come together and want to rush to go and help and defend. And when everyone helps, it lifts their spirits a lot,” told The Associated. Press Irina Tupolenko, student and resident of Kyiv.
The vehicles were recovered from eastern and southern battlefields and signaled a challenge to invading Russians, The New York Times reported.
Contribute: The Associated Press
