More than twenty-four hours after the assassination of the daughter of his main ideologue, Vladimir Putin has still not reacted. The Russian president, who never likes to comment hotly, is nevertheless under pressure. Daria Douguina, 30, daughter of Alexandre Douguine, 60, ultra-nationalist theorist often presented as the mastermind behind the launch of the “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, died on Saturday evening August 20 in a car bomb attack.
Both had participated earlier in the day in “Tradition”, a political and cultural festival in the great suburbs of Moscow where, in the middle of the public, some conservative figures were invited. Father and daughter had to go home together. But, at the last moment, deciding to leave in another vehicle, Alexandre Douguine would have entrusted his car to Daria Douguina. A few minutes later, the Toyota Land Cruiser exploded. The young woman died instantly. Footage showed her father coming to the scene with his hands to his face facing the flames.
No suspects have been identified and no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. It seems likely that the attack was aimed at Alexander Dougin and not his daughter. “Everything suggests that the crime was planned in advance and that it was the subject of a contract”, oversees the committee in charge of the main criminal investigations; he confirmed that an explosive device had been placed on the driver’s side under the floor of the car, which was left unattended for several hours in the festival parking lot. Relatives assure that Mr. Douguine and his daughter had recently received threats but that they did not feel insecure. Investigators say they are not ruling out any leads at this stage. A murder investigation has been opened.
Journalist and political scientist, who regularly uses a pseudonym, Daria Duguina had just written an article on military subjects after an army forum which, last week, was held in the presence of Vladimir Putin. She wrote in particular that the events in Boucha – north of kyiv – in February-March – the locality had been occupied for a month by Russian troops before being liberated by Ukrainian forces – were “a dramatization with corpses of people pretending to be victims”. A version defended by Moscow, disputed by Ukraine and the West.
Kyiv denies any involvement
The young woman, who had been placed since July by London on the list of individual sanctions for participation in “misinformation about Ukraine”, spoke regularly in the pro-Kremlin media to criticize the West and support the Russian offensive. She considered it a “clash of civilizations”. Daria Dugina concluded one of her recent writings by echoing the Kremlin’s rhetoric: “Fascism has subjugated the whole West. Russia is an island of freedom. »
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