Zelensky warns of Russian escalation after daughter of ‘Putin’s Brain’ is killed in car bombing
Days before Ukraine’s Independence Day, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of escalation by Russia after the daughter of a prominent Russian ideologue died in a car bombing outside Moscow, although Kyiv denied having any links to the murder.
“We should be conscious of the fact that this week Russia may try to do something particularly nasty,” Zelensky said in a video address Sunday after Darya Dugina was killed.
“But Russia has done the same constantly each week throughout the past six months.”
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Dugina, a 29-year-old journalist and political activist, was driving to central Moscow in a Toyota Land Cruiser after attending a literary and arts festival on the outskirts of the city, where her father, the ultra-nationalist philosopher Alexander Dugin, was to speak at an event, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Russian officials blamed Kyiv for the car bombing, which would be the first attack in Moscow since Russia started its invasion of Ukraine about six months ago.
“Ukraine has no connection to yesterday’s explosion because we are not a criminal state like Russia,” Zelensky adviser Mykhailo Podolyak was quoted as saying in an interview.
Dugin, known as “Putin’s brain” who had been advising Russia to seize Ukraine for years, was likely the bombing’s target. According to Russian media, he was to drive into Moscow with his daughter but chose to use another car at the last minute.
Officials in Ukraine say Russia could intensify its attacks around Ukraine’s Independence Day on Wednesday, which will also marks six months since the start of the military invasion.
Gov. Oleh Synehubov of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, part of which has been occupied by Russia, announced a 36-hour curfew beginning Tuesday until Thursday morning.
“Please treat such steps with understanding and prepare to stay at home or in bomb shelters— this is our security,” he wrote on Telegram, according to The Wall Street Journal. “We won’t give the enemy the chance for any provocations. On the day of our independence we will be particularly alert.”
In April, the United States and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Darya Dugina, who supported the invasion of Ukraine, due to her involvement in a “platform for Russian ultra-nationalists to spread disinformation and propaganda."
In March, Dugina called the West and Europe “totalitarian racists, colonialists and Nazis” as she spoke to Russian YouTuber Nikolai Rosov, The Sun noted.
While Alexander Dugin is not officially part of the Russian government, he is seen as a highly influential advisor to Putin. Russian soldiers are reportedly required to read Dugin’s writings, which call on Moscow to seize everything “from Vladivostok to Dublin.”
A parade of destroyed Russian military vehicles was held in Kyiv on Saturday, the day Russia had planned to organize a victory parade in the capital.
Kyiv residents photographed the tanks during and some children climbed on them, The Telegraph reported.
According to the United Nations Office for High Commissioner for Human Rights, as of Aug. 21, at least 5,587 civilians have been killed and 7,890 injured since the invasion started on Feb. 24.
