Russia has accused Ukrainian special forces of killing the daughter of one of President Vladimir Putin’s cronies in a car bombing over the weekend.
Darya Dugina, 29, died on Saturday when the vehicle she was driving detonated near Russia’s capital, Moscow.
Her prominent ultra-nationalist father, Alexander Dugin, who is thought to be close to Mr. Putin, could have been the intended target of the attack.
Ukrainian officials have denied any role in the blast.
However, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Monday that it had solved the case and that Ukraine was directly responsible.
Darya Dugina: Ukraine killed Putin ally’s daughter, Russia says
The FSB told Russian media that a Ukrainian woman had moved to Russia with her small daughter in July, but that she was actually a Ukrainian special services contractor.
According to the report, the woman rented an apartment in the same building as Ms. Dugina for a month in order to prepare for the attack. She allegedly followed Ms. Dugina around Moscow in a Mini Cooper while using three different license plates.
The suspect then fled to Estonia after the explosion, according to the FSB.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine’s President Zelensky, called the FSB’s version of events “Russian propaganda” from “a fantasy world.”
The FSB later released a video purportedly showing the suspect’s automobile entering Russia, surveillance footage of her entering what is supposed to be Ms. Dugina’s building and departing Russia.
On Saturday evening, Ms. Dugina and her father went to a festival near Moscow where Mr Dugin, a philosopher, gave a lecture. They allegedly planned to leave in the same automobile but changed their minds at the last minute.
Investigators believe bombs were planted beneath the Toyota Land Cruiser Ms Dugina was driving.
A video from the scene that was shared online appeared to show a distressed Mr. Dugin watching emergency personnel care for the flaming vehicle.
Konstantin Malofeev, a family acquaintance, issued a statement on Mr Dugin’s behalf, calling his daughter’s murder a “terrorist attack by the Ukrainian Nazi dictatorship.”
He was referring to Russia’s false but frequently repeated accusation of a strong Nazi presence within Ukraine, which was one of the key grounds given for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
“My daughter Darya Dugina was brutally killed in front of me,” the statement on Telegram said. “She was a lovely Orthodox woman, patriot, war reporter, central TV specialist, and philosopher.”
“We only need to win. My daughter offered her young woman’s life on its altar. So please, do it!”
Ms Dugina’s killing was described as a “vile, terrible act” by President Putin in a Kremlin statement on Monday. He also posthumously gave Ms. Dugina the Order of Courage, noting her “dedication exhibited in the fulfillment of professional responsibility.”
Ms. Dugina was a political pundit for her father’s International Eurasian Movement and a regular contributor to pro-Kremlin media channels.
