Aleksander Dugin Behind Russian ‘Military Ops’ in Ukraine Likely Target?

Moscow: Daria Dugina, daughter of Aleksander Dugin, a Russian nationalist ideologist, was killed when her car exploded on the outskirts of Moscow, officials said Sunday. Speculations are rife that Aleksander Dugin, who is often referred to as “Putin’s brain” himself could have been the target of the explosion in place of his daughter Dugina.

As per the Investigative Committee branch for the Moscow region, the  Saturday night blast was caused by a bomb planted in the SUV driven by Daria Dugina. A car caught fire in the Odintsovsky District in the Moscow region, a law enforcement source confirmed to Sputnik.

The 29-year-old was the daughter of political theorist Alexander Dugin and her name was included in UK sanctions lists in July this year. Dugin himself was sanctioned by the EU, US and Canada in 2014 and 2015.  

Quoting Andrey Krasnov, the head of the Russian Horizon social movement and the person familiar with her, TASS news agency reported that, “This was the father’s vehicle. Darya was driving another car but she took his car today, while Alexander went in a different way. When he returned, he was at the site of the tragedy. As far as I understand, Alexander or probably they together were the target.” 

If competent authorities determine that Ukraine was involved with the death of Daria Dugina in Moscow then it would mean that Kiev is pursuing a policy of state terrorism, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

“If the Ukrainian involvement is confirmed - and this version was voiced by the head of the Donetsk People's Republic Denis Pushilin, and it should be verified by the competent authorities - then we need to talk about the policy of state terrorism pursued by the Kiev regime,” Zakharova said on Telegram.

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Aleksander Dugin is a close aide of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is a prominent proponent of the “Russian world” concept. Dugin is said to be the man behind the Russian “military operations” in Crimea and Ukraine and often described by some western analysts as “Putin's brain.”