Her father, Alexander Dugin, has been described as “Putin’s brain”.
Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent ally of Vladimir Putin, has died following a car bomb attack in Moscow on Saturday (20 August).
The 30-year old was killed when the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado she was driving exploded near Bolshiye Vyazemy village in the Moscow Region, according to TASS, a Russian state-owned news agency.
The car she was driving belonged to her father, Alexander Dugin, who is believed to have been the intended target of the attack.
“This was the father’s vehicle,” said Andrey Krasnov, head of the Russian Horizon social movement.
“Darya was driving another car but she took his car today, while Alexander went in a different way. He returned, he was at the site of the tragedy. As far as I understand, Alexander or probably they together were the target.”
Independent Russian news agency Agentstvo has disputed this ownership claim, however, saying that the car was not registered under Dugin’s name in a leaked database.
Alexander Dugin has been described as “Putin’s brain”, has called for the Russian invasion of Ukraine as far back as 2014, saying that war between the two nations was “inevitable”.
Dugin has called for the foundation of a new Russian Empire, going as far as to say that Russia should rule “from Dublin to Vladivostok”.
Ukraine has denied any involvement with the attack, with senior advisor Mykhailo Podolyak refuting the claims on Ukrainian television.
“Ukraine has absolutely nothing to do with this because we are not a criminal state like Russia, or a terrorist one at that,” said the advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
A criminal investigation into Dugina’s death is underway, according to the Russian Investigative Committee’s Main Investigative Department.
“Based on the results of the inspection, a number of examinations will be appointed, including forensic, explosive engineering and molecular-genetic,” the Department said.
“All possible versions of the crime are being probed into.”
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