Topline
A Russian security agency on Monday accused Ukraine of carrying out a car bombing Saturday that killed the daughter of Alexander Dugin, a key ally of President Vladimir Putin, an attack for which Ukraine has said it is not responsible.
Investigators work on the site of explosion of a car driven by Daria Dugina outside Moscow.
Key Facts
The FSB, Russia’s federal security service agency, accused a Ukrainian woman of organizing the attack and fleeing for Estonia with her daughter after the car bombing, according to Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.
The accusation comes after Russia launched a murder investigation into the death of Daria Dugina—the daughter of Alexander Dugin, a figure close to Putin who has urged the Kremlin to intensify its attack on Ukraine—who died in a Moscow suburb Saturday after a car she was driving exploded on the highway and erupted in flames, according to Russian authorities.
An adviser to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky told Ukrainian television Sunday Ukraine “certainly had nothing to do with” the attack, arguing the country was “not a criminal state like the Russian Federation is,” according to the Washington Post.
Key Background
Dugina attended a cultural festival near Moscow with her father Saturday. The two were reportedly supposed to leave in the same car before Alexander Dugin chose to leave alone, according to the BBC, leading to suspicions her father was the real target of the attack. Daria Dugina was the editor of United World International, a role for which she had been sanctioned by the U.S. and Britain for spreading disinformation. Her father, Alexander Dugin, a far-right proponent of Russian imperialism, has been described as “Putin’s brain,” and was also sanctioned by the U.S. in 2015 for his involvement in helping develop policies that threatened Ukraine’s sovereignty and security. The FSB said Monday a Ukrainian woman had come to Russia in July and rented an apartment near Dugina in Moscow where she would spy on Dugina. Russia’s security agency claimed the Ukrainian woman and her daughter attended the same festival as Dugina and her father before the bombing took place. In launching an investigation into Dugina’s murder, Russia’s Investigative Committee said the crime was “planned in advance,” adding an explosive device had been placed underneath the car on the driver’s side.
Further Reading
Russia blames Ukraine for car explosion that killed Putin ally’s daughter (Washington Post)
Russia’s FSB blames Ukrainian intelligence for car bombing (Associated Press)
Russia launches murder investigation after car bomb kills daughter of key Putin ally (CNBC)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinehalpert/2022/08/22/russia-accuses-ukrainian-secret-service-of-killing-putin-ally-alexander-dugins-daughter/