Russia's Federal Security Service Accuses Ukrainian Secret Service Of Being Behind The Car Bomb Attack That Killed Darya Dugina
JAKARTA - Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) accused Ukraine's secret service on Monday of being behind a car bomb attack near Moscow that killed Darya Dugina, the daughter of a Russian ultra-nationalist.
Dugina, daughter of prominent ideologue Alexander Dugin, was killed late Saturday when a bomb detonated the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving, Russian investigators said.
Ukraine has denied involvement in the attack, with Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak calling the allegations "propaganda".
Dugina, a media commentator who appears regularly on state TV, is a strong supporter of Russia's actions in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation".
Her father, Alexander Dugin, 60, had long advocated violence to achieve the unification of the Russian-speaking and other regions of the new Russian 'Empire'.
In his first public statement about the car bombing, he said Darya had been savagely killed before his own eyes by the Ukrainians.
"Our hearts don't just thirst for revenge or payback," Dugin wrote.
"We just need a victory (against Ukraine). My daughter has sacrificed her youth at the altar of victory. So please win!" he exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Russia's FSB security service said the attack was carried out by a Ukrainian woman born in 1979, whose name and photos, and personal information appeared on Russian news websites.
The website linked her to the Ukrainian security services and accused her of being a member of the Azov battalion, a unit of the Ukrainian army that Russia has designated a terrorist group.
In response, Azov said in a statement on messaging app Telegram the woman named by the FSB was never a member of their unit, accusing Russia of fabricating lies.
The FSB said the woman and her teenage daughter had arrived in Russia in July, spending a month preparing for the attack by renting an apartment in the same housing block as Dugina.
She had driven a Mini Cooper around Moscow, which she used to spy on Dugina, and to that end, she had three different sets of license plates to avoid detection, the FSB said.
She attended an event outside Moscow on Saturday night which Dugina and her father also attended, the FSB added, before carrying out a "controlled explosion" of Dugina's car. She then fled from Russia to Estonia in the same Mini Cooper.
Russian law enforcement agencies have placed the Ukrainian woman on the country's wanted list, the TASS news agency reported, with Moscow seeking her extradition from Estonia.
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Separately, Estonia's Interior Ministry and police and border guard services said in a separate statement they could share information about individuals entering and leaving Estonia "only in cases prescribed by law", adding that the FSB's allegations did not meet that requirement.
Meanwhile, the police and border guard services said they had not received requests for information from Russia on the matter.
It is understood that a memorial service for Dugina will be held on Tuesday at the Moscow TV center, her father said.