Russian authorities said Sunday that a car bomb killed the adult daughter of Alexander Dugin, a national political theorist and staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Daria Dugina, a 29-year-old television commentator who also supported Moscow’s offensive, was killed on Saturday when the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving exploded as she was returning from a cultural festival she had attended with her father.
Analyst Sergei Markov, a former Putin adviser, told Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti that Dugin, not his daughter, was probably the intended target. Markov said: “It is quite clear that the most likely suspects are Ukrainian military intelligence and the Ukrainian security service.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied any Ukrainian involvement in the explosion.
Zelenskyy adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said: “We are not a criminal state, unlike Russia, and definitely not a terrorist state.”
FILE – In this photo taken on August 11, 2016, Alexander Dugin, the Russian political commentator, sits in his TV studio in central Moscow.
An ultra-nationalist, Dugin is a prominent proponent of the “Russian world” concept espoused by Putin, a spiritual and political ideology that emphasizes traditional values, the restoration of Russia’s power, and the unity of all ethnic Russians worldwide. Dugin is often called “Putin’s brain”.
Some Russian media reports quoted witnesses as saying that the SUV Dugina was driving belonged to her father but that he had decided at the last minute to go in another vehicle.
The United States sanctioned Dugina in March for her work as editor-in-chief of United World International, a website the United States has described as a source of disinformation. The sanctions announcement cited a United World article this year that argued Ukraine would “perish” if it were admitted to NATO.
Ukraine has often expressed interest in joining NATO, the West’s main military alliance, but has delayed such ambitions as the war with Russia nears its six-month mark this week. Sweden and Finland are about to join NATO.
Some material in this report came from the Associated Press.
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Source: sn.dk