A funeral service for Darya Dugina, daughter of one of Russia’s top nationalists and who was killed in a car bomb over the weekend, held a distinctively political tone Tuesday as she was hailed a martyr and a symbol of resistance in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The service was held at Moscow’s TV center as friends and politicians alike paid their respects to Dugina, who was laid to rest in a dark wooden casket in front of a large black and white photograph depicting the 29-year-old, Reuters reported.
The Russian journalist and nationalist commentator was killed in a car bomb outside of Moscow Saturday, and Russian security services have pointed the blame squarely on Ukraine, though Kyiv has denied involvement in the assassination.
“If her tragic death has touched someone, she would have asked them to defend sacred (Russian) Orthodoxy, the people and the Fatherland,” her father, Alexander Dugin, reportedly said visibly upset and dressed in black.
“She died for Russia, in the motherland and on the frontline which is not in Ukraine but here,” he added.
Dugina reportedly shared her father’s nationalistic leanings and was sanctioned by the U.S. and the U.K. for spreading disinformation relating to the war in Ukraine.
Her father has been reported to have acted as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “spiritual guide” when it comes to the deadly war in Ukraine, and his influence over the Kremlin chief has prompted some to describe him as “Putin’s Brain.”
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A close friend of the ultra-nationalistic family, Konstantin Malofeyev, reportedly claimed Tuesday that Dugina’s death makes Russia’s win in Ukraine that much more important.
“The people fighting against us do not understand that the Russian people is not just made up of those who are alive now,” he said during the service. “But is made up of those who lived before us and will live afterwards. And we will become stronger with the blood of our martyrs.
“And thanks to the untimely end of our dear beloved Dasha [Darya] we will definitely be victorious in this war,” he added.
Russian media have since accused not only Kyiv, but the U.S. and the U.K. of playing a role in Dugina’s death.
Some have speculated the car bomb was actually intended for Dugin.
