Ukraine has distanced itself from any involvement with the car explosion that resulted in the death of the daughter of a close ally of Vladimir Putin.
Darya Dugina, 29, was killed over the weekend after an explosive device detonated on the Toyota Land Cruiser she was travelling in.
Darya was the daughter of Putin advisor Alexander Dugin, who has expressed his support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine many times in the past.
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Kremlin officials are investigating any Ukrainian involvement in the incident, as reported by Russian news agency Tass, however, such accusations have been denied by their neighbours.
Mykhailo Podoliak, Adviser to the Head of the Presidential Office, told United News telethon, via Sky News: “Ukraine has absolutely nothing to do with this because we are not a criminal state like Russia or a terrorist one at that.”
It is believed Alexander Dugin may have been the supposed target of the attack instead of, or in addition to, his daughter.
Andrey Krasnov, the head of the Russian Horizon social movement, told Tass that the vehicle had actually belonged to Darya’s father.
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He said: “He returned, he was at the site of the tragedy. As far as I understand, Alexander or probably they together were the target."
Footage emerged hours after the tragedy of Alexander at the scene holding his head in his hands.
The car had exploded near Bolshiye Vyazemy village in the Moscow region, with TV footage showing investigators collecting debris and fragments from the explosion.
Investigators are treating the incident as a murder case and are exploring all options to determine who was responsible.
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Alexander Dugin has been described as a Russian fascist and even attributed to being ‘Putin’s brain’ by Foreign Affairs.
He was the author of a 1997 book called The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia, where he offered up a plan for Russia to rebuild their global power.
He wrote at the time that Ukraine should be a target for Russian annexation and that an independent Ukraine stood in the way of Russia, according to CBS.
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His close proximity to the Kremlin led to him being sanctioned by the US government back in 2016 following the Russian annexation of Crimea.
His daughter, Darya, was a Russian journalist and political activist who shared much of the same views as her father.
She was an outspoken supporter of the invasion and even claimed that some of the war crimes committed by Russia were staged by the US government, according to the Daily Beast.
She, along with her father, has both been sanctioned by the British government after being accused of spreading disinformation about the invasion.
Jayden Collins