Darya Dugina: Who was the daughter of Vladimir Putin’s spiritual guide?

The daughter of a very influential Russian philosopher, credited as being the driving force behind the Ukrainian invasion, was recently killed in a car explosion.

Darya Dugina: Who was the daughter of Vladimir Putin’s spiritual guide?
© Getty//Mark Cuthbert
Darya Dugina: Who was the daughter of Vladimir Putin’s spiritual guide?

CNN News reports that Darya Dugina, the daughter of farright philosopher, Alexander Dugin, was killed Saturday, 20 August after the car she was driving exploded in Moscow.

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'The flames completely engulfed it'

Andrei Krasnov, head of the Russky Gorizont (Russian Horizon) social movement and family friend of the victim, explained to the Russian state news agency TASS that Dugina likely died from the wounds sustained as a result of the explosion. He recounted:

[When Dugina] turned onto the Mozhaiskoye highway near the village of Bolshiye Vyazemi, there was an explosion, the car caught fire immediately. The flames completely engulfed it. She lost control because she was driving at high speed and flew to the opposite side of the road.

Pictures from the aftermath of the explosion have made the rounds of social media platforms in which a vehicle in flames and scattered smashed car parts can be seen. Krasnov has stated that he does not believe this explosion was an accident but that Dugina and her father were in fact targeted likely by those opposing their political views.

Who was Darya Dugina?

Dugina was the daughter of the Russian writer and ideologue, Alexander Dugin, who is largely considered to be the 'spiritual guide' to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The controversial philosopher has also been described as being 'Putin's brain' for the amount of influence he has had on the Russian president.

Dugina was born in 1992 and studied Philosophy at Moscow University. She was sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) earlier this year after suggesting that Ukraine would 'perish' if admitted to NATO in a United World International (UWI) article for which she was its chief editor.

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Vladimir Putin ally's daughter Darya Dugina was allegedly not the intended target of car bomb Vladimir Putin ally's daughter Darya Dugina was allegedly not the intended target of car bomb