Russia has opened an investigation into the murder of the daughter of ultra-nationalist philosopher Alexander Dugin. Darya Dugina was killed Saturday by a car bomb outside Moscow.
Dugin, who is credited as the architect of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is a critic of the United States, and who, along with his daughter, has been on the U.S. sanctions list.
Dugina is not an official member of the government, but he is believed to be close to Vladimir Putin and was described as “Putin’s Brain” by Foreign Affairs magazine.
Dugina, 29, was driving her father’s car from a festival that they had both attended when the blast occurred, The Washington Post reported.
The Toyota Land Cruiser “went off at full speed on a public highway” and caught fire, after an “explosive device planted under the bottom of the car on the driver’s side” blew up, according to Russian officials.
Dugina was the chief editor of — and a commentator on — a Russian disinformation website.
Maria Zakharova, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said that if the investigation’s trail led to Ukraine, then it would point to a policy of “state terrorism” being pursued by Kyiv, Reuter’s reported.
Ukraine denied involvement.
“I confirm that Ukraine, of course, had nothing to do with this because we are not a criminal state, like the Russian Federation, and moreover we are not a terrorist state,” said Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, speaking on Ukrainian television.
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