The FSB, as reported by the Interfax news agency, stated that the incident was perpetrated by a mother who came to Russia with her adolescent daughter last month.
According to Russia’s intelligence service, Ukrainian special operations personnel were responsible for a car explosion in Moscow that killed the daughter of a Putin ally.
The FSB, as reported by the Interfax news agency, stated that the incident was perpetrated by a mother who came to Russia with her adolescent daughter last month.
She rented an apartment from where she researched Darya Dugina, daughter of Russian ultranationalist and political thinker Alexander Dugin, and attended a Saturday gathering attended by the duo outside of Moscow.
After carrying out a “controlled explosion” on the father’s Toyota Land Cruiser in which Ms. Dugina was traveling, the FSB stated the suspect fled to Estonia.
Ukraine has denied involvement and attributed the incident to internal power struggles between “different political factions” in Russia.
When asked about allegations that Ukraine was responsible for the murder, former British ambassador to Russia Sir Tony Brenton stated that he believed the father, not the girl, was the primary target.
He stated, “Russia is a fairly closely controlled state at the moment, and for a state with which they are at war to organize a car bombing in Moscow – the epicenter of Russian security worries – appears to be a difficult task.
“If they were able to pull it off, Dugin would not be the most obvious target. There are plenty more influential Russians available whom they may have chosen.”
Mr. Dugin was captured on film at the scene of the explosion, grasping his head in despair.
“Strange conspiracy theories”
Sir Tony did not rule out the idea that the daughter, who had been on state television to endorse Russia’s operations in Ukraine, was the intended target, as she shared her father’s right-wing beliefs. However, he noted that Mr. Dugin is “a far more well-known character than she was.”
Putin has cited him and is familiar with his work, he claimed.
He stated that the Russian president would perceive it as an attack “likely from the West or supported by the West” on his objective to restore Russia’s greatness.
Sir Tony stated that there are “all sorts of ludicrous conspiracy theories,” including the possibility that an obscure Russian partisan group was responsible for the bombing, or that the nationalists in Russia themselves perpetrated the attack to pressure the government into being more aggressive in the war.
Sir Tony stated, “It remains uncertain and is subject to examination.”
“The most likely result, regardless of the investigation’s findings – and the investigation’s findings will undoubtedly be manipulated – is that it will increase pressure on the Russian government to promote their war as aggressively as possible… and to increase the support of the Russian people for the war.”
Putin is probably “disappointed” with the state of the conflict.
Mr. Dugin has long advocated for the merger of Russian-speaking and non-Russian speaking territories into a large new Russian empire.
Sir Tony stated that it was unclear how much influence Mr. Dugin had on the Russian leader, but that they shared the view “that Russia is the greatest nation on Earth, that it has maintained its greatness in part by incorporating key Slavic nations, including Ukraine, and thus the Russian action against Ukraine is completely justified.”
However, he stated that Mr. Putin was likely “disappointed” with the slow progress of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, despite its overwhelming artillery advantage.
Sir Tony stated, “The battle appears to be moving toward and may already be at a stalemate.”
Initial failure to seize Kyiv in three days as planned resulted in a significant reduction of objectives for seizing the eastern portion of Ukraine, where they are making little progress.
“Quite obvious signs have been emanating from Moscow that they are willing to negotiate… “This is indicative of their acknowledgment that they will not reach their initial goals,” he continued.
