Legendary Soviet pilot's great-granddaughter suggests nuking Moscow

The great-granddaughter of legendary Soviet test pilot Valery Chkalov, Daria Bogdanova, suggested launching a nuclear strike on Moscow in order to end the conflict in Ukraine.

Speaking in an interview with journalist Oleg Kashin (included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of foreign agents), she referred to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which led to the end of World War II. Bogdanova also confirmed that she was ready to finance such an attack on Moscow if she could.

"We cannot buy such equipment. If I could buy it, I would buy it," Daria Bogdanova said.

Bogdanova also said that she would be willing to assist any country, not just Ukraine, that would be willing to strike a nuclear blow on Moscow.

Daria Bogdanova, who is an Israeli citizen, still has her mother, grandmother and grandfather living in Moscow.

"That's why I think about this topic very seriously. Of course, I love Moscow very much. I grew up there. I spent the best years of my life there,” she said noting that she did not care about people, not even her loved ones, who may suffer from the consequences of a nuclear explosion.

Daria Bogdanova said she would not care if the Kremlin or other buildings she loves got shelled. She would rather prefer "Lubyanka blown up to end it" (the building of the headquarters of the Federal Security Bureau of Russia (FSB) is located on Bolshaya Lubyanka Street — ed.).

Andrei Klimov, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, said that Bogdanova's remarks need to be checked for Article 275 ("High Treason”) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

"When I read this, I involuntarily remembered that opposite my house in Perm there was School No. 22, on which there was a memorial plaque in commemoration of Chkalov's meeting with schoolchildren in 1937. My childhood passed near Chkalov Street. I can imagine what thoughts and feelings our legendary pilot would have if he were alive," Andrei Klimov said.

The senator suggested that the Russian authorities should take more measures to raise patriotism in the country.

"We need to correct the mistakes that were made in the 1990s when we abolished patriotic education at schools. This is where everything grows from,” says Klimov.

Bogdanova earlier suggested "shooting Russians right on the streets.” Muscovites need to hear air sirens, she also said.

Bogdanova actively and openly collects money to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and buys drones for Ukrainians.

At the same time, Bogdanova is a co-owner of a Russian company. She also pays taxes in Russia. After the start of the special operation, she paid hundreds of thousands of rubles in taxes. Chkalov's great-granddaughter is the founder of NTK Avant LLC; she owns a third of the company's authorised capital. According to the Federal Tax Service, the company runs to "conduct consultations in the field of computer technology.” In 2022, the company's net profit amounted to 6.8 million rubles.

Bogdanova's great-grandfather Valery Chkalov is a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was born in the village of Vasilevo, the Nizhny Novgorod region. Now this town bears his name — Chkalovsk. His father was a boilermaker, and his mother was a housewife. In 1937, Valery Chkalov made the first non-stop flight over the North Pole from Moscow to Vancouver.