The death of Darya Dugina, the daughter of Russian ultranationalist firebrand Alexander Dugin, is at first glance a flashback to 1990s Russia, when gangsters settled scores with contract killings and car bombs.
The death of Darya Dugina, the daughter of Russian ultranationalist firebrand Alexander Dugin, is at first glance a flashback to 1990s Russia, when gangsters settled scores with contract killings and car bombs.
Dugin is a creature of the same decade. He emerged from fringe politics, most notably as founding member of the National Bolshevik party, political provocateurs who combined communist and fascist symbolism with a heaping dose of anti-Western sentiment. There are differing opinions on his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin now, though the ultranationalist’s teachings were in line with Putin’s expansionism, and Dugin is a fierce proponent of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
But Russia today is a very different place from the gangsterism of the 1990s. Putin’s rise on New Year’s Eve, 1999, ushered in a new social contract: Russia would see an end to its criminal lawlessness, and in exchange, Russians accepted a form of authoritarian rule. The bandits no longer ruled Russia — Putin’s security services did. That didn’t mean that assassinations were no longer a feature of Russia’s political landscape: It’s just that they were typically carried out against those who challenged Putin’s authority.
