US believes elements in Ukraine’s government authorized assassination Transcript

Speaker 1: (00:02)
A rescue operation is underway in the city of Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine after a Russian missile strike destroyed several buildings. At least two women have died and at least five people are still trapped in that rubble. One official said many people have already been rescued, including a three year old girl. That strike comes as a rapid Ukrainian advance is underway in the neighboring Kherson region. And to the east in Luhansk, social media images show Ukrainian forces in at least one village and one officials says several settlements have been liberated there. Sources tell CNN, the US intelligence community believes elements within Ukraine’s government authorized the car bombing that killed the daughter of a prominent Russian political figure. Darya Dugina was killed in that blast on August the 20th, but one source says intelligence officials believe she was driving her father’s car and he was the actual target. And as Scott McLean is following developments for us in London, what more are we learning there Scott?

Speaker 2: (01:02)
Well, the Ukrainians are saying nothing about this. A Ukrainian defense intelligence officials said that Ukraine has nothing to add to this. Remember this happened back on August 20th, Darya Dugina’s car was turning onto the main highway about 50 kilometers outside of Moscow when a bomb planted underneath of her Jeep detonated. As you mentioned, because she was driving her father’s car. The initial thought was that Alexander Dugin, a prominent proponent of Russian expansionism, was the actual target. It is important to remember though, that this is a US intelligence assessment. This is not a proven fact. There are also plenty of question marks. This assessment does not say exactly who within the Ukrainian government may have been responsible for this. There’s also plenty of questions about, still an open question I should say about whether or not President Zelenskyy was even aware of this at all. The sources who spoken to CNN though made clear that the United States was not aware of this prior to.

Speaker 2: (02:00)
This is obviously making a lot of news in Russia. It bolsters the Russian [inaudible 00:02:05] explanations. They said initially that based on their evidence collected that this seemed to be something that was targeted, something that was pre-planned, ordered. And remember that the foreign ministry spokesperson said this back in August. “If the Ukrainian trace is confirmed, and this version was voiced by the head of the DPR and it must be verified by the competent authorities. And we should talk about the policy of state terrorism implemented by the Kyiv regime.” Remember, the Ukrainians have vehemently denied this even in the early aftermath that an advisor to President Zelenskyy said, “Ukraine definitely has nothing to do with this because we are not a criminal state, which the Russian Federation is, and even more so, we are not a terrorist state.”

Speaker 2: (02:49)
One other thing to mention. Max, and that is that back in August, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff was asked about this and he said that he hoped that this was an internal Russian affair. Hoped that it was nothing emanating from Ukraine and hoped that the Ukrainians were telling their truth, telling the truth in their denials. Obviously now his own intelligence though is telling him something different.

Speaker 1: (03:10)
Scott, thank you.