Cruel and despicable
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has sent his condolences to the family of Darya Dugina, describing the daughter of the ultra-nationalist Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin as a “patriot of Russia”.
In a statement published on the Kremlin website, the Russian leader described Dugina’s killing as a “despicable, cruel crime”.
No doubt it was, but what does Putin suppose it was when he launched a war? Was it not a despicable, cruel crime to kill all these Ukrainians?
It was a “despicable, cruel crime.” But the likelihood it wasn’t ordered by Putin himself seems low to me.
It seems likely that the bomb was meant for her father, aka “Putin’s Rasputin” (although she wasn’t much better). It reminds me of ETA’s assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco (aka the first Spanish astronaut). Yes, it was murder, but arguably it was a major step in Spain’s transition. (ETA’s later killings were not at all defensible, however.)
Maroon, maybe it was and maybe it wasn’t. Maybe Putin blew up his philosopher’s daughter as a warning to the rest of the Russian elite.
Maybe. I mean, obviously he doesn’t stop at murder. But it seems odd that he would kill the daughter of one of his closest allies.
Weirdly, there was an opinion piece published in our local media from a Dutch journalist that placed the blame squarely on the Ukrainian intelligence services, or possibly a Ukrainian in Russia acting independently but with the tacit approval of Ukraine. I say weirdly because they offered no proof or reasoning beyond that Dugin and his daughter support Putin and the invasion, so obviously…
Personally I’m a bit skeptical. It’s low hanging fruit and of no obvious benefit to Ukraine strategically or tactically. If it turns out it was a State sanctioned hit it would damage Ukraines reputation with the US and EU, and I think they have too much at stake to risk that relationship at all over something of such trivial benefit.
In addition, I’ve seen comments in OSINT discussions that Dugin and his daughter were involved with some pretty unsavoury people and questions were being asked of Darya about where large sums of money had gone.
It’ll take more than a wild accusation (especially if it sources back to Russia) for me to believe that Ukraine is responsible.
Someone put a bomb in a woman’s car. Looks like a hit job.
Personally, I’d check any ex-husbands/boyfriends first.
Sastra,
According to the Washington Post, it wasn’t her car, but her father’s. Apparently she drove her own car to the event, but for some reason drove away in her father’s car. Which suggests she wasn’t the target, or at least not the only target.
I’d guess it’s either enemies of the regime or rivals within the regime.
The fact that the Putin regime had a fake story about who did this all ready to go suggests they were behind it.
They’re now saying that a woman named Natalia Pavlovna Vovk, who they say was a member of the Azov Battalion, entered Russia – with her 12 year old daughter – and set the bomb on Dugina’s car. Then she blew up the car, and then left the country for Estonia, where she is now.
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/08/22/7364339/
Problems with this include that the Azov Battalion had no female members, and that the ID card presented as proof is an obvious fake full of inexpert photoshop blunders.
https://twitter.com/IssandJumal/status/1561781504975540225
Logical problems include the idea that the FSB had this (fake) Azov Battalion ID card before the bombing, knew who this woman was, followed her around, took videos of here, knew she was a “terrorist,” and still let her into the country, let her do this bombing, and let her leave the country afterwards. It’s an absurd story.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11136109/Did-Kyiv-really-send-mother-Mini-Natalia-Vovk-kill-Rasputins-girl-Darya-Dugina.html
One of the interesting parts is that Daddy Dugina has just begun to hint at a prospect of Russia after Putin, mere hours before his daughter’s death.
https://nypost.com/2022/08/22/russia-blames-darya-duginas-killing-on-ukrainian-spy/
I predict any other Russian elites saying something similar will also see mysterious femmes fatales from Ukraine blow up their children.
So, then, there’s three possibilities:
1: The bomb was planted by Putin’s people, for reasons folks have listed above.
2: The bomb was planted by native Russians, pissed off about the war, and trying to make a statement to those who support it–using a tactic that is ironically less likely to get them arrested than simply standing in public with a No War sign.
3: The bomb was planted by a Ukranian super-agent and her 12-year-old daughter right under the noses of one of the most aggressive internal security forces in the world.
I know which one of those I’m inclined to dismiss.