Did Russian resistance kill daughter of Alexander Dugin?

A former Russian lawmaker claims that "partisans" within Russia planted a car bomb that killed Daria Dugina — the daughter of prominent nationalist philosopher and writer Alexander Dugin.

Ilya Ponomarev, the only lawmaker in the Russian Duma to vote against the annexation of Crimea in 2014, said the bombing was carried out by a group known as the National Republican Army.

What do we know so far?

Speaking on his Russian-language "February Morning" television channel launched in Ukraine since Russia's invasion, Ponomarev — who was barred from re-entering Russia after the vote — said Dugina's death was the work of the so-called "National Republican Army."

He said the underground group was working inside Russia and dedicated to overthrowing the Putin regime.

"This action, like many other direct partisan actions carried out in Russia in recent months, was carried out by the National Republican Army," said Ponomarev, adding that his web portal had made contact with the group's fighters.

A manifesto purporting to come from the group was published online on Sunday, which Ponomarev went on to read out in the broadcast. It declares Putin a "usurper of power and war criminal."

It says the Russian president "unleashed a fratricidal war between the Slavic peoples and sent Russian soldiers to certain and senseless death."

"Poverty and coffins for some, palaces for others — that's the essence of his policy."

"We believe that disenfranchised people have the right to rebel against tyrants. Putin will be deposed and destroyed by us!"

The document goes on to call on soldiers of the Russian army "to stop shooting at our brothers from other countries — Georgia, Syria and others," and urges "all Russians to join our ranks."

What happened in the attack?

The 29-year-old TV commentator Daria Dugina was killed by an explosive planted in the SUV she was driving on Saturday night.

Russian news agency Interfax said Dugin and his daughter had attended the patriotic festival "Tradition" together, which is supported by a presidential foundation.  

The circumstances of the killing led to suspicions that the intended target was Dugina's father.

An official told Russian media that Dugina and her Alexander Dugin had planned to travel together after the event, but that Alexander's plans changed.

Ukraine has denied any involvement in the attack.

Both Dugina, a journalist and political scientist, and her father were strong supporters of Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian FSB security service on Monday said Ukraine was behind the bombing, with the perpetrator fleeing from Moscow to Estonia.

Dugin's precise connections to the Kremlin are unclear, but he helped popularize the "Novorossiya," or "New Russia" concept that Russia used to justify the 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

Sporting long hair and a grey-white beard, Dugin has sometimes been described by western commentators as "Putin's brain" or "Putin's Rasputin."

Dugin's ideas — espousing traditional values, the restoration of Russia's power, and the unity of all ethnic Russians — were not a secret. His 1997 book "The Foundations of Geopolitics: Russia's Geopolitical Future," became so popular in Russia that supermarkets placed it at their checkout counters.

Dugina was herself sanctioned by the United States in March for her work as chief editor of United World International, a website that the US has described as a source of disinformation.

What is Dugin's influence?

"Nobody knows how much influence Alexander Dugin really has on Vladimir Putin, and some political experts assume that his influence might be exaggerated anyway," DW's former Moscow Bureau chief Juri Rescheto said.

"Mr. Dugin developed an extreme right-wing view on Russia's place in the world. He stands for an anti-Western philosophy and philosophy, and he is seen as a kind of intellectual father of Vladimir Putin's plans to restore the Russian empire. His daughter, Daria Dugina, was not only a follower of his philosophy but also [something akin to] his secretary."

Edited by: Mark Hallam