US intelligence agencies believe parts of the Ukrainian government approved a car bomb attack near Moscow in August that killed Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, the New York Times reported, citing unidentified officials.
The United States took no part in the attack on Dugina and was not aware of it ahead of time, the Times reported. American officials admonished Ukrainian officials over the assassination, the newspaper said.
After the attack, Ukraine denied involvement in the killing while Russia’s Federal Security Service accused Ukraine’s secret services of being behind it.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
The Times quoted a Ukrainian presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, as repeating the denial that Kyiv was behind the attack. Podolyak did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment on the report.
While Russia has not retaliated in a specific way for the assassination, the United States is concerned that such attacks — while high in symbolic value — have little direct effect on the battlefield and could provoke Moscow to carry out its own strikes against senior Ukrainian officials.
US officials have been frustrated with Ukraine’s lack of transparency about its military and covert plans, especially on Russian soil, the Times said.
Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine’s security services have demonstrated their ability to reach into Russia to conduct sabotage operations. The killing of Dugina, however, would be one of the boldest operations to date — showing Ukraine can get very close to prominent Russians.
Some US officials suspect Dugina’s father, Alexander Dugin, a Russian ultranationalist, was the actual target of the operation and that the operatives who carried it out believed he would be in the vehicle with his daughter.
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 US officials what they plan to do, the Times said.