Research on it death of Daria Dugina, daughter of close associate of Putin Alexander Duginfrom the explosion in the car in which he was driving next Moscowbegan Russian authorities.

The Russian Investigative Committee said it was studying “all versions” of the incident and treating it as a murder.

According to Russian media, Darya Dugina died in an explosion in her car outside Moscow as she was returning home.

It is believed that her father, Russian ultra-nationalist philosopher Alexander Dugin, known as “Putin’s mastermind”, may have been the target of the attack.

Kyiv denies any involvement

Kyiv denies any involvement in the attack. Speaking on Ukrainian television, Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser Mikhail Podolyak said that “Ukraine has absolutely nothing to do with this, because we are not a criminal state, like Russia, and not a terrorist one.”

According to Russian media, the father and daughter were supposed to return from the event on Saturday evening in the same car, but Dugin decided at the last moment to go separately.

BREAKING: Daughter of Alexander Dugin, often referred to as “Putin’s brain”, dies in car explosion near Moscow pic.twitter.com/pSkBK8ENGO

— BNO News (@BNONews) August 20, 2022

Footage posted to Telegram, which the BBC has not verified as authentic, shows Dugin watching in shock as emergency services approach the burning car.

Who is Alexander Dugin?

Alexander Dugin has been advocating the unification of Russian-speaking regions with Russia for many years. 30-year-old journalist Daria Dugina also spoke out in favor of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In an interview in May, she called the war a “clash of civilizations” and said she was proud that both she and her father were targeted by Western sanctions.

Earlier this year, U.S. and British authorities imposed sanctions on Daria Dugina for spreading “disinformation” about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Dugin has been under US sanctions since 2015 for his alleged involvement in Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

^{According to BBC, REUTERS, NYT.}