Russia claims Ukraine was behind the car bombing which killed the daughter of a prominent Russian ultranationalist. Many questions remain unanswered.
On Saturday night in Russia, a powerful bomb exploded inside a vehicle carrying Darya Dugina, the 29-year-old daughter of Aleksandr Dugin, a prominent ultranationalist philosopher and ally of President Vladimir Putin. They had both just attended an event on the outskirts of Moscow but left in separate vehicles, and it is believed that the bomb might have been meant for him.
The bombing has reportedly stunned Moscow’s political elite, and raised many eyebrows among Kremlin watchers abroad as well. Russia has now blamed Ukraine for the bombing, while Kyiv has denied any involvement. Amid fears the bombing will spur Russia to escalate its war in Ukraine, speculation both in and outside of Russia continues to run rampant about who was behind the plot and their motives. Below is what we know.
According to Russian authorities and media reports, on Saturday night, Dugina and Dugin attended a nationalist festival on the outskirts of Moscow. When they left the event to return to Moscow, Dugin made a last-minute decision to ride in another vehicle. At around 9 p.m. local time, the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving exploded on a highway near the village of Bolshiye Vyazemy, some 12 miles west of Moscow. Dugina, who was apparently the sole occupant of the vehicle, was killed instantly.
Russian authorities said that the cause of the blast was an explosive device that had been attached under the vehicle on the driver’s side. On Monday, a law enforcement official told the state-run TASS media outlet that the bomb was detonated remotely. A friend of the family, Andrei Krasnov, told TASS that the Land Cruiser belonged to her father. “Dasha (Darya) drives another car, but she drove his car today, and Alexander went separately,” he said, speculating that the bomb had been intended for Dugin, or perhaps both him and his daughter.
Video of the immediate aftermath later shared on social media shows smoking vehicle parts strewn across the highway, and the vehicle itself engulfed in flames on the side of the road.
