Moscow warns of retaliation at the funeral of Daria Dúguina

First modification: 08/23/2022 – 20:03

The death of Daria Dúguina sparks calls for revenge among Moscow’s political elite.

This Tuesday, August 23, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, warned that there will be no “mercy” for those allegedly responsible for the murder of the daughter of Alexander Duguin, the ultra-nationalist philosopher identified in the West as one of the intellectual authors of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a close associate of President Vladimir Putin.

“I consider that it was a barbaric crime for which there can be no forgiveness (…) I hope that the investigation will be concluded soon and, as a result, of course, there can be no mercy with the organizers (of the murder), those who commissioned and with the perpetrators,” the Russian foreign minister said during a press conference.

His statement comes a day after the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) accused kyiv of the car bomb attack, in which the 29-year-old woman who repeatedly defended the war launched died on Saturday, August 20. by Putin against the neighboring country since last February 24.

According to the FSB, the crime was perpetrated by an agent of the Ukrainian special services who arrived in Russia last July and fled to Estonia, after activating a “controlled explosion” of the car Dúguina was driving.

However, the Ukrainian government assures that it is not involved in the events and described the Moscow version as “Russian propaganda” and “fiction”. In addition, the self-styled National Republican Army (NRA), an opponent of Putin and the conflict on Ukrainian soil, claimed responsibility for the murder.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu also dismissed the Russian claim. “We consider this as one case of provocation in a long list of incitements by the Russian Federation,” he said.

Lavrov’s threats this Tuesday took place on the same day that the funeral of the woman who was sanctioned by the United States in March of this year due to her work as editor-in-chief of ‘United World International’ took place in Moscow. a website that Washington describes as a source of disinformation about the ongoing conflict.

Dúguina is exalted as a “martyr” during her funeral

Pro-Kremlin lawmakers, family members and thousands of nationalist citizens walked by Dúgina’s coffin, while political figures said her death “must inspire” Russian troops in Ukraine. A clear reference to the foreseeable upsurge of the conflict that will be six months old this Wednesday, August 24.

The funeral service, which grabbed the attention of state television news, was preceded by his father Alexander Dugin, known as Putin’s “ideologue”.

“She died for Russia, in the homeland and on the front line that is not in Ukraine but here (…) If anyone was moved by her tragic death, she would have asked them to defend Holy (Russian) Orthodoxy, the people and the motherland,” said the 60-year-old writer and editor-in-chief of the nationalist TV channel ‘Tsargrad’.

Ultra-nationalist tycoon Konstantin Malofeev, who is close to the family, hailed her as a martyr whose death makes Russia’s victory over Ukraine all the more important.

“The people who fight against us do not understand that the Russian people are not only those who are alive today. They are those who lived before us and those who will live after us. And we will be stronger with the blood of our martyrs,” he declared. .

Meanwhile, Leonid Slutsky, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lower House of the Russian Parliament, and who participated in several rounds of talks with Ukrainian negotiators last March, assured that the attack against Dúguina hinders an eventual peaceful solution.

“We see that kyiv is not willing to have talks and my own position as a member of the negotiating team is that it would be difficult to have talks after that horrible tragedy,” he remarked.

Dúguina’s death, seen by opponents of the war as apparent ‘karma’ against supporters of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, threatens to backfire on kyiv.

The US government has warned of plans by Moscow to attack civil and government infrastructure in the coming days.

After six months of conflict and despite the number of casualties among its ranks, the Kremlin is not giving up on extending its territorial objectives in the neighboring country.

With Reuters and AP