On Sunday, a car bomb killed the daughter of one of the most prominent ideologues of Russian nationalism.. Alexander Dugin was supposed to go home with his 29-year-old daughter Daria after the event in the suburbs of Moscow. But his last-minute decision to get into another car saved his life, raising suspicions that it was the Russian nationalist who was the target of the attack.. Dugin's daughter died instantly.

The Russian government blames Kyiv for everything, they say, the Ukrainians tried to kill Dugin in order to take revenge. Since he became one of the fanatical advocates of the idea that Moscow should occupy Ukraine and annex it to the new Russian Empire. The Ukrainian side denies involvement, writes the Washington Post. In such strange cases, it's hard to know the truth. But there is one solid rule to follow: don't believe everything the Kremlin says.. Instead, it's better to remember a few important things when trying to figure out what happened..

First, Dugin is not as influential as some say.. He is " There is no evidence that Dugin ever met Putin in person, let alone advised him on a regular basis.. And it is unlikely that a Russian autocrat spends his leisure time reading other people's political treatises.. Putin didn't need to read Dugin's writings to think of annexing Crimea or trying to undermine Ukrainian statehood.. Both ideas were circulated among certain circles in Moscow. Putin has his own brain.

Secondly, the murder of Dugin does not affect the Russian war against Ukraine in any way.. Organizing such an attack under Putin's nose could boost Ukrainian morale somewhat.. But the risk is too great and not worth it to attack someone who does not play any role in the war unleashed by Moscow. Dugin does not hold any public office. His only function is propagandist. And there are plenty of them in Russia. Both Dugin and his late daughter resorted to genocidal rhetoric against Ukrainians, which includes them today in the stream of Russian state discourse..

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And that brings us to the most important point: don't take the Kremlin's statements at face value.. Russia is a paranoid dictatorship that has committed the worst act of international aggression in decades. In 2014, Putin frankly denied that his troops were trying to occupy Crimea until the operation was completed.. Today, after six months of bloodshed, it is forbidden in Russia to tell the truth that there is a war going on.. It's considered a crime. Dictatorships by their very nature don't work with the truth. Any information published by the Russian authorities should not be regarded as a description of reality, but as a political tool.

It should be noted that a few hours after the murder of Daria Dugina, the FSB announced that it had already found the killer.. She was named a citizen of Ukraine, who somehow managed to plant a bomb in the victim's car and quickly travel more than 800 kilometers to hide in Estonia. The Russian intelligence service did not explain why a woman named Natalya Vovk chose her 12-year-old daughter as an accomplice.

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The Russian state, under and before Putin, has had a long history of faking or manipulating events to fit its agenda.. In 1999, then-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin used a series of terrorist attacks in Moscow to start a war against Chechnya, which he blamed for the attacks.. His tough response strengthened his power and helped him build a police state.. To this day, the FSB has failed to adequately explain why its agents planted those bombs..

And maybe no one will ever know the truth.

Could Russia itself have staged an assassination attempt on Dugin Or maybe some gang did it? There is another possibility: fearing public discontent, Putin avoided declaring a general mobilization, which would give Russia an even greater advantage in the war against Ukraine.. A brazen attack against a conspicuous " Maybe we'll find out about it in the coming days.. But remember: the Kremlin's explanations cannot be trusted..