Dugina Case: ex-police officer arrested in Moscow for leaking information

An ex-police officer has been arrested in Moscow on suspicion of transferring data on Darya Dugina, the daughter of "Putin’s ideologue" Aleksandr Dugin, killed in August 2022, from the Interior Ministry's databases to third parties.

Source: Kremlin-aligned news agency Kommersant; Latvia-based Russian media outlet Meduza, referring to the case file

Details: The case file states that the Basmanny Court of Moscow has arrested former Russian Interior Ministry major Ivan Rybin, who is charged with violating privacy and abusing power.

The investigation believes that Rybin "ran" Dugina through the Ministry of Internal Affairs databases, after which he passed information about her to third parties. As the news outlet reports, Dugina is mentioned in Rybin's case "literally several times", but it is not specified where or in what context.

The newspaper emphasises that the former police officer has not been charged with aiding and abetting the murder.

At the same time, the investigator insisted on sending Rybin to a pre-trial detention centre, although charges of medium-sized crimes usually do not provide for this.

According to the case file, the decision to arrest Rybin was made because if he was released, he could "create false evidence of his innocence or destroy the existing evidence".

He has been sent to the detention centre until 11 June. The defence insisted on house arrest.

Quote from the investigation: "Rybin has held various positions in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for a long time, and he has special skills and knowledge in the field of investigative actions and operational and search activities, and he also has a significant number of connections among law enforcement officers."

Background:

• On 20 August, a car driven by Darya Dugina exploded not far from Moscow. Dugina was a reporter working for RT, the Russian propaganda outlet, and the daughter of Aleksandr Dugin, "Putin's ideologue".

• The Office of the President of Ukraine denied any involvement by Kyiv in Dugina’s murder.

• Russian ex-MP Illya Ponomarev stated that the so-called National Republican Army claimed responsibility for the murder.

• Russian investigators claimed that the car with Dugina inside was blown up remotely.

• On 22 August, Russia's FSB stated that the murder of Aleksandr Dugin's daughter, Darya, was orchestrated by the Ukrainian special services.

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