Father and daughter Dugin had been at a festival outside Moscow on Sunday evening.

After the festival, they chose to take two different cars home, when a bomb exploded in the car Darja Dugin was sitting in.

The explosion is said to have taken place near the village of Bolshiye Vyazemy, 20 kilometers west of Moscow.

The car Darja was sitting in actually belonged to the father - who is assumed to have been the target of the attack.

But who is Aleksandr Dugin why would someone want to kill him – or possibly both him and his daughter Darja?

Influential ultra-nationalist

Aleksandr Dugin has long been a famous political scientist and ideologue known for his view of "Russia's place in the world".

His ultra-nationalist and anti-European ideas are said to have influenced Vladimir Putin's expansive foreign policy - which is why Dugin has often been called "Putin's brain".

Already in 2008, Dugin advocated that Russia should annex the Crimean peninsula, and Dugin has often said that a war between Ukraine and Russia is inevitable, writes the BBC.

In addition, his "Duginian" theories are based on the fact that Russia's mission is to challenge the world domination of the United States, with the help of Iran and various EU-skeptic countries.

The daughter also advocates for Russia's war of aggression

Darja Dugin, who was a famous journalist in Russia, supported Russia's war of aggression and invasion of Ukraine.

Both the father and daughter have been hit by sanctions from the West for having "acted to destabilize Ukraine" - Aleksandr Dugin as early as 2015 and Darja Dugin since August 2022.

Ukraine denies involvement in the attack

The Russian security service FSB accuses Ukraine of being behind Darya Dugina's death and specifically singles out a named Ukrainian woman, reports the Reuters news agency.

However, Ukraine has dismissed Russia's accusations.

"Ukraine, of course, has nothing to do with this, because we are not a criminal state, like the Russian Federation, and even less a terrorist state," says Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry, said in a Telegram post that if any Ukrainian link was found, it would amount to "state terrorism."