Lebedev has responded to the accusation by posting a comment on his , saying: "We do owe Guardian a big thank [sic] for advertising us."
Lebedev, who has 207 followers on Twitter, is not a frequent tweeter, averaging around two or three tweets a month, according to his Twitter home page.
The knocking ad by The Guardian was published in a number of trade publications just days after Lebedev, owner of the London Evening Standard, finally completed the purchase of The Independent and The Independent on Sunday newspapers.
The ad, created by Wieden & Kennedy, featured the Independent's masthead altered to include Russian-style Cyrillic letters such as a reversed N.
Underneath, the copy read: "Owned by no one. Free to say anything. theguardian."
The Guardian is unique in the national newspaper market in being owned by a foundation, The Scott Trust.
Adam Freeman, director of consumer media at Guardian News & Media (GN&M), publisher of The Guardian, described the ad as "a bit of fun".
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