Vladimir Putin faced another devastating setback to his plan to invade and conquer Ukraine over the weekend when the daughter of his key war advisors was killed by a car bomb.
Darya Dugina was the daughter of Alexander Dugin, a leader of Russia’s far-right who was commonly known as “Putin’s Brain.” Dugin holds such a strong influence over Putin’s fascist views that many Russians blame him for the president’s decision to invade their democratic neighbor. Dugina was a pro-Kremlin TV pundit who was outspoken in her support of the Ukraine invasion but she likely wasn’t the target of the car bombing. Both Dugin and his daughter attend a pro-traditionalist Russia festival where authorities believed the bomb was planted on Dugina’s car. Dugin was supposed to ride with his daughter but switched vehicles at the last minute. As the Daily Beast explains, he was following her car for 10 minutes before the bomb exploded and most of the videos and photos circulating social media at the moment show Dugin standing shocked at the scene while his daughter’s car catches fire.
рашист дугин приехал на место взрыва автомобиля, в котором находилась его дочь
Детали: как пишут российские паблики, дарья дугина возвращалась с семейного фестиваля «Традиция» в усадьбе захарово. дугин планировал ехать вместе с дочерью, но в последний момент сел в другую машину. pic.twitter.com/4wnJ2BmbTz
— DanaElena.🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦#war in Ukraine (@danielapruna2) August 20, 2022
Naturally, plenty of pro-Kremlin supporters are trying to frame this as an assassination attempt by Ukraine but new reports coming from Russia suggest the culprit of the attack might reside closer to home. In fact, in more bad news for Putin, there’s speculation that the bombing was the work of his own security agents who are sick of the despot’s obsession with Ukraine and see him as weak after reports that his health is failing.
“The blowing up of the car of the famous Russian fascist and ideologist of the Putin regime, Alexander Dugin, was organized, it seems, by the Russian security services,” historian Yuri Felshtinsky told The Daily Beast. “The Ukrainian special services, involved in a deadly battle with the aggressor on the territory of Ukraine, are unlikely to be able to send their officers to Moscow to organize terrorist attacks there.”
Apparently, plenty within Russia despise Dugin, calling him “Putin’s Rasputin” and blaming him for the six-month-long standoff with Ukraine — one that’s cost the country thousands of lives including those of some of its top military generals. There’s precedent for this too, according to Felshtinsky, who referenced the apartment building bombings of the late 90s that lead to Russia’s war with Chechnya and Putin’s rise to power.
Whether Putin ordered the hit or not, those within his inner circle are now worried they might be next, especially considering threats issued by Russian Resistance movements like National Republican Army. In other words, things are looking bleak for Putin and his cronies the longer this war with Ukraine goes on.
(Via The Daily Beast)