Russian State TV Rallies Russians Against NATO After Darya Dugina's Killing

Guests on Russian state TV have blamed Ukraine and NATO powers the United Kingdom and Estonia for the assassination of Darya Dugina, with one warning the west of nuclear war.

Dugina, the 29-year-old daughter of ultra-nationalist philosopher Alexander Dugin, was killed on Saturday in Moscow when a bomb attached to her car exploded. There is speculation her father, an outspoken supporter of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, could have been the intended target though this has not been confirmed.

Russia has officially blamed Ukraine for the killing, linking it to a Ukrainian woman the Federal Security Service (FSB) claims lived in the same apartment block as Dugina, which Kyiv strongly denies.

Discussing the case on TV network Channel One, a number of guests said western intelligence agencies were behind the killing, and warned of open conflict with NATO.

The conversation was recorded and translated by Julia Davis, a reporter for The Daily Beast who runs the Russian Media Monitor.

Military commentator Igor Korotchenko said: "The terrorist act that caused Darya's demise is an unfortunately successful joint military operation by three secret services, I will name those countries: Ukraine, Estonia and Great Britain."

Dmitry Evstafiev, a professor of communications, media, and design at Russia's HSE University, also blamed the U.K., saying: "The British footprint in his terrorist activity, in this war against Russia without any rules or limitations, is becoming more and more obvious, in my opinion. Britain is started to play the part of a European ISIS. It seeks to create chaos, an explosion, to finally blow up what's left of European stability."

Vladimir Solovyov, a state TV presenter nicknamed "Putin's Voice" due to his stridently pro-Kremlin positions, forecasted open war between Russia and NATO.

"The west is moving towards an open confrontation with Russia, by leaps and bounds. Politely speaking, I think we're acting strangely," he said. "Do we have any doubts that sooner or later NATO will enter into a direct military confrontation against us?"

Solovyov also hit out at the leaders of Russian industry, accusing them of "shifting the blame" for production failures, adding: "Do what you're told and if you can't, shoot yourself!"

Andrey Gurulyov, a State Duma representative and retired military officer warned about nuclear conflict.

"We are at war with the United States and Britain...Everyone over here got tired of talking about nuclear weapons. Since we're in such a situation with the west with them wanting this or that, our doctrine should be amended to say, 'Nuclear weapons could be used as needed.' Let's not be afraid of that, but work on it," he said.

In 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin updated Russian nuclear protocol, authorizing a nuclear strike in response to attacks on Russia's "critically important government or military facilities."

A previously unknown Russian opposition group called the National Republican Army (NRA), whose existence Newsweek has been unable to verify, said it was responsible for killing Dugina. This has not been independently confirmed.

Tom Tugendhat MP, Chair of the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, suggested the Russian government itself is a suspect.

He tweeted: "In recent months, Dugin had been criticising the Kremlin for being too soft. Given the terrorism used by Putin over decades - Beslan, Nemtsov, Litvinienko, to name but a few incidents - means the list of suspects should include his own government."