He has scarcely had any contact with Putin and Russia's illegal war of aggression in Ukraine is certainly not his brainchild. Yet, despite his beard and well-curated air of mystery, Dugin is far from being 'Putin's Rasputin' as some have claimed. Some even claim his belief that it is Russia's historic destiny to rule an empire that stretches from Vladivostok to Dublin inspired Putin to invade Ukraine. He has been painted as a sort of ideological right-hand man to the president. But also for other factions.ĭugin had gained a significant following but, in the days since Saturday night's bombing, many Western commentators have vastly overstated his influence with the Kremlin – and his relationship with Vladimir Putin. He would, apparently, have been in the car had it not been for a last-minute change of plans.Ī tempting target for Ukraine? Perhaps. Alexander, however, is renowned in Russia for his brand of pseudo-mythological ultra-nationalism. Yes, as a journalist and cheerleader for Russia's war in Ukraine, Darya was a public figure in her own right.

And I believe Alexander Dugin was the target of the car bomb, despite Russia's claims that his daughter had been stalked for weeks by a 'Ukrainian agent'. The fantastical narrative now being promoted by the Kremlin following the death of Darya Dugina, daughter of the controversial Russian nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, is entirely to be predicted.īut the identity of the true perpetrator(s) is likely to stay as shrouded in mystery as the man they intended to kill. Spin, spies and a plot that could backfire on the kremlin Yesterday, a Kyiv-based former Russian MP, Ilya Ponomarev, said 'internal groups' seeking to destabilise the Kremlin regime were responsible. Aide Mykhailo Podolyak rejected the idea of any Ukrainian involvement, and suggested rogue members of the FSB may have been involved. Sources close to President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed this as 'fiction'. Last night, Russian officials insisted she should return to face justice saying: 'Ukrainian citizen Natalia Vovk, who escaped after committing the murder of Darya Dugina, will be put on the wanted list and her extradition demanded.' The FSB claimed Miss Dugina's murder had been 'solved' and that Miss Volk was acting on the orders of the Ukrainian secret services. This time she was said to have attached Ukrainian identification to her vehicle to enter Estonia, a Nato member state and a key ally of the UK against the occupation of Ukraine. Having entered Russia the previous month with Donetsk number plates – and after using Kazakh plates as she followed Miss Dugina around Moscow – she supposedly changed plates again.

However, he had also suggested recently the success of the campaign was more important than Putin's political destiny, saying: 'The mighty forces of history have come into play, let the old regime bury its head, a new Russian time is coming.'Īccording to the FSB, Miss Vovk drove hundreds of miles from Moscow to the city of Pskov on the Estonian border.

Kremlin-linked media posted what they said is Natalia Vovk's ID card

Just hours before the fatal explosion he had published a characteristically vitriolic post on social media justifying the war in Ukraine as a defence of Russia against Nazism. Minutes later Mr Dugin was seen at the blast scene, holding his head in his hands. According to Russian officials the 800g device had been attached directly beneath the driver's seat. A journalist and vocal supporter of the invasion of Ukraine, Miss Dugina left the event in a Toyota Land Cruiser. On Saturday Miss Vovk apparently attended the same poetry festival as Miss Dugina and her father. The service also released what it claimed was her Ukrainian military documents, including a passport-style photo of her. In a bid to back this up with evidence, Russian officials shared footage supposedly recorded by a security camera inside a plush Moscow residential building showing Miss Vovk. The FSB claimed Miss Vovk rented an apartment in Miss Dugina's block and secretly followed her around Moscow for several weeks.

Attrition into the waves lyrics