Daria Dugin, the daughter of a prominent Russian thinker, Alexander Dugin, who is nicknamed the brain of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was killed, Saturday, when a bomb exploded in the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving, outside the Russian capital, Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Ministry indicated that Ukraine may be behind the attack, but Kyiv denied any role in the operation.
- Russian investigations into the murder of Daraya
Andrei Krasnov, a person who knew Dugin, was quoted by the TASS news agency as saying that the car belonged to her father and that he might have been the target.
The Russian state newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported that the father and daughter were attending a festival outside Moscow, and that Dugin decided to switch their cars at the last minute.
Television footage accompanying a statement by Moscow region investigators showed officials collecting debris and shrapnel from the blast site.
The statement, which described Daria Dugin as a journalist and political expert, said investigators had opened a murder case and would conduct forensic examinations.
He added that investigators are taking into account all possibilities while working to determine who is responsible for her death.
- How was the process carried out?
“An explosive device was placed under the driver’s seat in the car, Daria Dugin, who was behind the wheel, died at the scene,” a Russian investigative committee said in a statement.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that if the investigation found that Ukraine was responsible, it would indicate Kyiv’s “state terrorism” policy.
Alexander Dugin, Daria’s father, has long advocated the unification of the Russian-speaking and other regions into a vast new Russian empire.
And he wants that empire to include Ukraine, where Russian forces are currently carrying out what Moscow calls a “special military operation” to disarm its neighbour.
The influence of Dugin, who is on the US sanctions list, on Russian President Vladimir Putin is the subject of speculation, as some Russian observers assert that his influence is great, while others describe it as little.
- Who is Daria Dugin?
Daria Dugin, 29, worked for some time as a presenter of a political program with Sergey Mardan on Radio “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, and was involved in political television programs, and due to her mastery of the French language, she was often hosted as an expert on French politics.
Daria Dugin holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree, and one of her main areas of research has been the study of the influence of the ideas of the Greek philosopher Plato on the ancient world.
Daria Dugin actively supported the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, as well as personally acquainted with a number of war correspondents and field commanders in the Donbass.
Britain has included Daria on the sanctions list, saying it is “working to spread misinformation about the conflict in Ukraine”.