RUSSIA: Reports have emerged that the daughter of Alexander Dugin, one of Vladimir Putin’s top allies, has been killed in a car bomb attack on Saturday.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, a car explosion claimed the life of Darya Dugina, 30. The state-run news organisation also confirmed that a Toyota land cruiser Prado exploded in the Moscow region’s Bolshiye Vyazemy village, killing the “female driver.”
Russian law enforcement officials have launched a full-blown probe into the matter and have resolved to get to the bottom of it immediately.
Another Russian news outlet reported that Dugina was returning home after attending a literature festival when the mishap occurred. Reports claim that her father, Alexander Dugin, was also supposed to be in the same vehicle with her but ultimately took a different one. Dugin was just behind his daughter’s car when it exploded.
The Russian far-right ideologue Alexander Dugin has consistently supported Putin’s vision for the “New Russia.” Due to his proximity to the President, he is also referred to as “Putin’s brain” in political circles.
Dugin encouraged war with its neighbour, boldly claiming that “war with Ukraine is inevitable” while asserting that Russia was already “united with Crimea”.
His daughter, Darya Dugin, had been following her father’s footsteps in encouraging Putin’s “special military operation” against Ukraine on February 24. Consequently, she was sanctioned by the Biden administration over her zeal for war and blood.
It is still unclear whether the explosion was a deliberate assassination attempt targeting her father.
Ahead of Wednesday’s Independence Day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a warning to his countrymen about the possibility of “ugly” Russian attacks.
This year marks two important milestones: 31 years of Ukrainian independence from Soviet rule as well as six months since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky urged his people to not bow down to Russian aggression as fresh blasts hit Crimea and a missile wounded 12 civilians near a nuclear plant. Moreover, Ukrainians must not allow Moscow to “spread despondency and fear” in their country, Zelensky said on Saturday.
“We must all be aware that this week Russia could try to do something particularly ugly, something particularly vicious,” Zelenskyy said in his late-night remarks on video.
A curfew imposed in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, is to be extended for the entire day on Wednesday due to the upcoming celebrations and the threat of fresh violence, said regional Governor Oleh Synehub. The curfew usually runs from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the northeastern city, regularly hit by Russian shelling.
A Telegram update by Synehub said, “Remain at home and take heed of warnings!”
Also Read: Russian Missile Injures 12 in Ukrainian, Close To Nuclear Plant
