Investigators opened a criminal case for the murder of Darya Dugina, reporting that at around 21:00 local time on Saturday, near the village of Bolshie Vyazemi, an explosive device, possibly installed in a Toyota Land Cruiser, exploded on a public road and the car ignited,” reported the press service of the Russian Investigative Committee, according to TASS.
“The driver died on the spot. We have established the identity of the deceased: it is the journalist and political analyst Daria Dugina,” said a post on Telegram.
Andrey Krasnov, head of the Russian Horizon (Russian Horizon) public movement and a personal acquaintance of the woman’s family, told TASS on Sunday that Dugina was killed when her car caught fire after an explosion.
Krasnov said he knew Dugina personally and that the car she was traveling in belonged to her father. He believes that Alexander was the real target of the explosion, and maybe both of them, TASS reported.
“This is her father’s car,” Krasnov told TASS. “Dasha (Daria) drives another car, but today she drives his car, and Alexander went separately.”
The elder Dugin is a far-right Russian author and ideologue considered the architect or “spiritual guide” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He is said to have significant influence over Russian President Vladimir Putin and is often described as “Putin’s brain”.
When Dugina “turned onto the Mozhaiskoe highway near the village of Bolshie Vyazemi, there was an explosion, the car immediately caught fire,” Krasnov told TASS.
“The flames engulfed her completely. She lost control because she was driving at high speed and flew to the opposite side of the road,” added Krasnov, quoted by TASS.
Photos of the aftermath of the explosion began circulating on Russian social media on Saturday, showing a burning vehicle on the side of the road and shattered car parts scattered in the surrounding area. CNN cannot independently verify the images.
In the meantime, inspections by forensic experts, investigators and explosives experts are being carried out at the scene of the accident.
“Based on the results of the inspection, a number of expertises will be appointed, including forensic, explosives and molecular genetics. All possible versions of the crime are being investigated,” said the press service, quoted by TASS.
Dugina, the daughter, was born in 1992 and studied philosophy at Moscow State University, according to TASS.
In March 2022, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Dugina for her contribution to an article on the United World International (UWI) website suggesting that Ukraine would “perish” if be accepted into NATO. Dugina was editor-in-chief of UWI.
CNN’s Alex Stambaugh contributed to this report.