Russia opens a murder inquiry after car bomb kills daughter of a key Putin ally

• Daria Dugina’s car exploded in Bolshye Vyazemy, Russia’s Investigative Committee says.
• She was the daughter of Alexander Dugin, often called “Putin’s brain”.
• Dugina was editor of a website that suggested Ukraine would “perish” if admitted to NATO.

The daughter of the Russian ultra-nationalist known as “Putin’s brain” perished after her automobile exploded on Saturday, according to a statement from the country’s top investigative authority.

The Toyota Land Cruiser Daria Dugina was driving detonated in Bolshye Vyazemy, a small village southeast of Moscow, and she “killed on the spot,” according to a statement on the Investigative Committee of Russia’s Telegram channel.

The statement added that detectives had “confirmed that the explosive device was put under the bottom of the automobile on the driver’s side,” adding that they “think that the crime was planned in advance and is of a contract nature.”

According to the statement, a murder investigation has been opened.

Alexander Dugin, a famous proponent of the “Russian world” idea ideology and a fervent advocate of Russia sending soldiers into Ukraine, was the father of Dugina, 29, who was 29 years old.

Dugin doesn’t hold a job in the government, but it’s thought that he has some sway over Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.

Similar opinions were stated by his daughter, who also made an appearance as a commentator on the nationalist television network Tsargrad.

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Tsargrad stated on Sunday, using the well-known form of her name, “Dasha, like her father, has always been at the vanguard of confrontation with the West.”

Donetsk People’s Republic leader Denis Pushilin attributed it to “terrorists of the Ukrainian regime, seeking to kill Alexander Dugin.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, a counsellor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, refuted claims that his nation was responsible for the tragedy on Sunday. He declared on Ukrainian television, “We are not a criminal state.

According to a news release from the U.S. Treasury last week, Dugin was the head of the Eurasian Youth Union and recruited fighters to fight for the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic when the US initially sanctioned him in 2015.

His daughter Dugina, who was also sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in March, served as the website’s chief editor and said that Ukraine would “perish” if it joined NATO.

When it sanctioned her in July, the U.K. government also referred to her as a “regular and prominent provider of disinformation connected to Ukraine”. The company issued a statement that read, “Dugina has therefore supported and encouraged policies or acts which destabilise Ukraine or undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty, or independence of Ukraine.”

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