Here’s what to know about Alexander Dugin, the Russian whose daughter died in a car blast

Dugin's influence over President Vladimir Putin has been a subject for speculation, with some Russia watchers asserting that his sway is significant and many calling it minimal.

Darya Dugina, the daughter of ultra-nationalist Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin, was killed in a suspected car bomb attack outside Moscow on Saturday evening. Acquaintances of Dugina said the car she was driving belonged to her father and that he was probably the intended target.

– Dugin, 60, has long advocated the unification of Russian-speaking and other territories in a vast new Russian empire, which he wants to include Ukraine.

– In his 1997 book, “The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia,” Dugin was fiercely critical of U.S. influence in Eurasia and called for Russia to rebuild its own authority in the region and advocated breaking up the territory of other nations.

– That book featured on army reading lists, but there is no indication that Dugin has ever had direct influence on Russian foreign policy.

– Dugin’s influence over President Vladimir Putin has been a subject for speculation, with some Russia watchers asserting that his sway is significant and many calling it minimal. He has no official ties to the Kremlin.

– The United States imposed sanctions on Dugin in 2015 for being “responsible for or complicit in actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, stability, or sovereignty or territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

– In a statement in March, the U.S. Treasury said his Eurasian Youth Union actively recruited individuals with military and combat experience to fight on behalf of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine.

– “Dugin controls Geopolitica, a website that serves as a platform for Russian ultra-nationalists to spread disinformation and propaganda targeting Western and other audiences,” the U.S. Treasury said.