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Topline
New intelligence from American officials suggests Ukraine approved a car bombing within Russia that killed Daria Dugina, the daughter of an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the New York Times reported Wednesday, weeks after Russia accused Ukraine’s security services of carrying out the August attack—a charge Ukraine has denied.
Alexander Dugin attends a farewell ceremony of his daughter Daria Dugina, who was killed in a car … [+]
Key Facts
U.S. officials did not play a role in the attack and criticized Ukrainian officials for authorizing it, according to the Times, which reported intelligence on the attack was distributed within the U.S. government last week, citing unnamed officials.
It’s not clear which parts of the Ukrainian government were believed to be involved, or whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was aware of the attack. American officials are concerned the killing—which Ukraine has denied organizing—and further political assassinations don’t help the country’s efforts to fend off Russian forces and could spur Russian attacks on Ukrainian officials, the Times reported.
Senior Ukrainian officials continued to deny involvement in the attack to the Times, though one anonymous senior military official told the outlet the country has carried out attacks on Russian officials in occupied Ukrainian territories, including Volodymyr Saldo, a Russian-backed leader in the Kherson region who was hospitalized after being poisoned in August.
The U.S. National Security Council and Department of Defense did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Forbes.
Tangent
Many speculated the car bombing attack that killed Dugina was actually meant to target her father, far-right philosopher Alexander Dugin. Dugina was driving her father’s car home from a festival they attended together when the blast occurred. The two were supposed to leave in the same car before Alexander Dugin chose to leave alone, the BBC reported at the time. The Times reports some U.S. officials think the elder Dugin was the initial target.
Key Background
Daria Dugina was Russian TV pundit and the editor of United World International, and had been sanctioned by both the U.S. and Britain for using the website to spread disinformation and pro-Kremlin viewpoints. Her father, a far-right proponent of Russian imperialism and longtime backer of war with Ukraine, has been called “Putin’s brain,” and has also been sanctioned by the U.S. for his involvement in helping formulate policies that threatened Ukraine’s sovereignty and security. Dugina died in a Moscow suburb in August after a car she was driving exploded on the highway and erupted in flames, according to Russian authorities. Days after the attack, the FSB, Russia’s federal security service, accused Ukrainian operatives of hiring a Ukrainian woman to carry out the attack before fleeing to Estonia. The car bombing represented one of the most high-profile attacks on a Russian figure since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began in February.
Further Reading
U.S. Believes Ukraine Was Behind an Assassination in Russia (New York Times)
Russia Accuses Ukrainian Special Services Of Organizing Killing Of Putin Ally Alexander Dugin’s Daughter (Forbes)
