On Saturday night in Moscow, a car bomb exploded, killing the daughter of Alexander Dugin, Darya Dugina. Video of the incident was shared by various news sources showing the car in flames and what appears to be Dugin distraught standing across the street.

This is significant because Dugin is considered a major player in pushing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, serving as a sort of new-world spiritual guide to Vladimir Putin. He’s been referred to as “Putin’s brain” in the past.

Alexander Dugin at the site near Moscow where his daughter Darya was killed tonight in a car bombing.pic.twitter.com/4lTYDMTR9s

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 20, 2022

The assumption is that the car bombing was meant for Dugin but that his daughter mistakenly ended up on the receiving end of the explosion. It was his Toyota Land Cruiser that she was driving. That leaves several ways that things could go from here, and none of them are particularly good.

It is possible this is some more localized act, carried out by parts of the Russian mob culture. Dugin is obviously involved in a lot of shady stuff, and it wouldn’t be surprising at all if internal forces tried to take him out.

The other, far more dangerous possibility is that this was carried out by someone working for the Ukrainians or sympathetic to the Ukrainians. If there is any evidence provided of that, it’s going to be a major flashpoint that could cause a severe escalation in the war currently going on in Eastern Europe. Given Dugin’s role in that war, it would make sense that he would be a target.

The final path this could take is that this was a localized event but that the Russian government chooses to use it as a false excuse to escalate its invasion of Ukraine. No matter what the facts actually say here or who is actually behind the bombing, that’s probably exactly what will happen.

This is an ongoing story and RedState will post any newsworthy updates that come in.