In this handout photo released by the Russian Investigative Committee, investigators work at the scene of the explosion of a car driven by Daria Dugina outside Moscow.
(Photo: dpa)
Moscow According to authorities, the daughter of a leading Russian nationalist was killed in a bomb attack near Moscow. The political journalist Darja Dugina, daughter of the ideologue Alexander Dugin, died on Saturday evening as a car driver in a car bomb explosion, as Russian investigative authorities announced on Sunday.
Like her father, Dugina was a prominent advocate of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and the establishment of a Greater Russian Empire. Dugin is considered by some observers to be the influential mind behind President Vladimir Putin’s policies. The Russian Foreign Ministry named Ukraine as a possible mastermind behind the explosion. The government in Kyiv rejected this assumption, but expressed satisfaction with the incident.
The state news agency Tass quoted an acquaintance of Dugina as saying that the vehicle she was driving belonged to her father, who was probably the target of the attack. The government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported that the father and daughter attended a festival together. At the last moment, Dugin decided to get into another car.
According to Russian investigators, an explosive device was attached under the car on the driver’s side. Dugina died at the site of the explosion. The highest investigative authority in Russia took over the investigation and spoke of indications of a contract killing.
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A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said that if the trail led to Ukraine, it would be an indication of a policy of “state terrorism” by the government in Kyiv.
An advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky replied on Ukrainian television that, unlike Russia, Ukraine is not a “terrorist state”. He spoke of power struggles between different political factions in Russia. The incident was a revenge of fate on supporters of the Russian attack on Ukraine. Russia describes the invasion, which began on February 24, as a “military special operation”. Dugin and his daughter are on US sanctions lists.
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