Andrei Krasnov, leader of the social movement Russky Gorizont (Russian Horizon) and personal acquaintance of the woman’s family, told TASS on Sunday that Dugina was killed when her car burst into flames following an explosion.
When Dugina “turned onto the Mozhaiskoye highway near the village of Bolshiye 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 across the road,” Krasnov added, as quoted by TASS.
Footage of the aftermath of the explosion began circulating on Russian social media on Saturday, appearing to show a burning vehicle on the side of the road and smashed car parts strewn around the area. CNN is unable to independently verify the footage.
Krasnov told TASS that he knew Dugina personally and that the car she was traveling in belonged to her father. He thought Alexander was the real target of the explosion, or maybe both.
“It’s his father’s car,” Krasnov told TASS. “Dasha (Darya) drives another car, but she drove her car today, and Alexander left separately.”
The elder Dugin is a far-right Russian author and ideologue credited with being the architect or “spirit guide” of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He is believed to have significant influence over Russian President Vladimir Putin and is often described as ‘Putin’s mastermind’.
Dugina, the daughter, was born in 1992 and studied philosophy at Moscow State University, according to TASS.
In March 2022, the US Treasury Department’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 admitted. to NATO. Dugina was the editor of UWI.
