Angry Russians called Sunday for attacks on Ukrainian government buildings after the death of a prominent Putin ally’s daughter in a car bombing after a festival outside Moscow.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denied Ukrainian involvement: “We are not a criminal state, unlike Russia.” Ukrainian officials, however, urged government employees in the capital to work remotely this week amid concerns that the buildings would be targeted for attack.
“Kyiv will shudder” said a headline on Russia’s Tsargrad.tv website, while state-run RT editor Margarita Simonyan retweeted a call to bomb the Ukrainian intelligence agency headquarters in Kyiv. “Decision-making centers! Decision-making centers!! Decision making centers!!!” she said in a Telegram post.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said the explosion ripped through the Toyota Land Cruiser Darya Dugina, 29, was driving near the village of Bolshie Vyazemy on Saturday night. Rt reported that the vehicle belonged to her father, Russian nationalist ideologist Alexander Dugin, giving rise to suspicions that he was the intended target.
The blast came at about 9 p.m. local time, shortly after Dugina left a festival where she attended a “Tradition and History” lecture led by her father, Russian authorities said.
Maria Zakharova, a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Telegram that Russia would consider any involvement by Ukraine in the incident to be “state terrorism.”
Latest developments:
►Two Russians and a Ukrainian were arrested for alleged espionage at an Albanian military plant. Albania, a NATO member since 2009, has strongly renounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has joined in sanctions against Moscow.
►The U.S. will ship another $775 million package of arms to Ukraine, including long-range artillery ammunition used to devastating effect on Russian forces, according to a senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity under Pentagon guidelines
►Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin have signaled support for international inspectors to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after both nations claimed the other attacked it, striking fears of a nuclear disaster.
Ukraine destroys Russian radar system
The Ukrainian military on Saturday said it had destroyed a Russian radar system and other equipment in the southern Zaporizhzhia region in occupied regions.
“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.”
Child loses eye, 2 others injured in missile strike
A Russian missile attack injured 12 people, including three children, in the town of Voznesenk in the Mykolaiv region on Saturday, the Ukraine prosecutor’s office said.
The strike also damaged houses and an apartment block.
Two of the three children were in serious condition, and one lost an eye in the attack, officials said.
Ukrainians stroll down Kyiv street with Russian tanks on display
Pedestrians on an avenue in Kyiv viewed destroyed Russian tanks on display on Saturday, rolled in on the beds of Ukrainian trucks. The burned-out tanks and infantry carriers were brought to Khreshchatyk boulevard leading to Maidan Square in central Kyiv, drawing public attention. Locals were able to walk beside the exhibit of military vehicles with the street blocked off to traffic.
“It is very beautiful that we made such an exhibition because patriotic places come together and want to rush to go help and defend. And when everyone helps, it raises morale very much,” student and Kyiv resident Irina Tupolenko told the Associated Press.
The vehicles were collected from battlefields in the east and south and signaled defiance to the Russian invaders, The New York Times reported.
Contributing: The Associated Press
