SOFREP reported a side-by-side breaking news when there were simultaneous “car crash accidents” involving Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the time, we were still speculating that the Ukrainians had a hand in the assassination of Daria Dugina, daughter of Putin’s close friend and ally. It is possible that the car she was in was targeted because his father was supposed to be in the car. However, as the tragic event turned out, it was Aleksandr’s daughter who was in the car.
Now, US intelligence agencies are saying Ukraine has a direct hand in this assassination.
Daria was killed on Aug. 20 in the Toyota Land Cruiser that was on its route to Moscow after attending the annual festival “Tradition,” which is an exclusive affair for art lovers. The festival was held at the Zakharovo estate, and the investigators confirmed they found an explosive device attached under the car, on the driver’s side.
Her father, Aleksandr, was born into a military intelligence family and was an anti-communist dissident in the 1980s. However, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he co-founded a national party but also left soon after. Eventually, he started building up his political sphere of influence after he published the book “Foundations of Geopolitics” in 1997, which attracted a lot of Russians who were keen to rebuild the nation’s global impact through alliances.
Eventually, Aleksandr has become one of Putin’s very inner circle. In February 2012, he was invited to speak at the Kremlin, where he addressed thousand with a resounding message that resonated with many Russian nationalists:
“Dear Russian people! The global American empire strives to bring all countries of the world together under its control. They intervene where they want, asking no one’s permission. They come in through the fifth column, which they think will allow them to take over natural resources and rule over countries, people, and continents. They have invaded Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya. Syria and Iran are on the agenda. But their goal is Russia. We are the last obstacle on their way to building a global evil empire. Their agents at Bolotnaya Square and within the government are doing everything to weaken Russia and allow them to bring us under total external control. To resist this most serious threat, we must be united and mobilized! We must remember that we are Russian! That for thousands of years we protected our freedom and independence. We have spilled seas of blood, our own and other people’s, to make Russia great. And Russia will be great! Otherwise it will not exist at all. Russia is everything! All else is nothing!”
It is not hard to believe why the Ukrainians would specifically target Aleksandr. He has the power to influence Russian citizens and is in whisper’s range to Putin.
Further intelligence reports uncovered by the New York Times noted that the Ukrainians were complicit in this covert operation. However, the US officials said they were unaware of this operation, and if they had been informed, they would have opposed the assassination (if they had been consulted).
The US also confirmed that this information was only shared with the state last week. However, Ukraine is denying further involvement in the said assassination.
US officials noted that while the assassination had no direct impact on the actual fighting at the borders, this could hold a “high…symbolic value” and could provoke Moscow even further. At the same time, if Ukraine further denies these allegations even after an unearthed proof has been established by US intelligence, this could scar the ongoing alliance between the two nations.
“While the Pentagon and spy agencies have shared sensitive battlefield intelligence with the Ukrainians, helping them zero in on Russian command posts, supply lines and other key targets, the Ukrainians have not always told American officials what they plan to do,” according to NY Times.
When asked about the assessment, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, shared the same sentiment as before: we (Ukraine) did not do it.
“Again, I’ll underline that any murder during wartime in some country or another must carry with it some kind of practical significance,” Podolyak told The New York Times in an interview on Tuesday. “It should fulfill some specific purpose, tactical or strategic. Someone like Dugina is not a tactical or strategic target for Ukraine.
“We have other targets on the territory of Ukraine,” he said, “I mean collaborationists and representatives of the Russian command, who might have value for members of our special services working in this program, but certainly not Dugina.”
However, a senior Ukrainian military official speaking on anonymity has confirmed that Ukrainian forces have helped local militia to carry out assassinations in the past, including those of the Kremlin-installed head of the Kherson region.
Ned Price, the State Department’s spokesman, said Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken already spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba that the Biden administration “will continue to support Ukraine’s effort to regain control of its territory by strengthening its hand militarily and diplomatically.”
The National Security Council, Pentagon, and CIA have yet to release a comment on the intelligence assessment.
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