Alexander Dugin, known as ‘Putin’s Rasputin’, had strongly attacked the Kremlin leader shortly before his daughter Darya was blown up in a car bomb.
This was revealed as it became clear there had been an online campaign to disparage Dugin ahead of a fatal blast that was seen as intended for him.
These factors add to the theory that the death of TV personality and ultranationalist pundit Darya Dugina, 29, was in an attack by Russian special services or other forces loyal to Putin.
Ukraine has strongly denied any role in the killing in Moscow, and there are allegations of a “false flag” operation to blame Kyiv.
Today the Russian FSB claimed that the SBU - Kyiv’s special services - were behind the murder and named a woman Natalia Vovk, born in 1979, as carrying it out.
She arrived in Russia on July 23 with her daughter, reported SHOT media.
“A Mini Cooper was used to spy on the girl [Dugina].
“Numbers were changed on it three times - the license plates of the DPR, Kazakhstan and Ukraine were used.”
The report stated: “On the day of the crime, Vovk and her daughter arrived at the Tradition festival, and after a controlled explosion on August 21, they left through Pskov to Estonia.”
The Russian Investigative Committee was said to be examining this version.
Her Toyota Land Cruiser was hit by an explosion around one-and-a-half miles after she left an elite car park where it is believed to have been mined.
Reports claimed the bomb may have been detonated by remote control.
It contained 400g to 800g of TNT, with some experts saying it was the equivalent to a simultaneous explosion of six grenades.
Dugin - seen at the crash sense in shock holding his head in his hands - is reportedly now in hospital.
Seven hours before the killing, he had issued a vitriolic online post on Telegram claiming that the war in Ukraine was now more important than Putin’s presidency.
It came during a discernible cooling in relations even though he had been described as “Putin’s brain”.
Dugin had claimed the war and “desperate resistance of the Atlanto-Nazi regime in Kyiv demands from Russia significant - cardinal - internal transformations.
“Structural, ideological, personnel, institutional, strategic.”
The tone was strongly critical of Putin.
"Increasing attacks on Crimea, attempts to arrange a nuclear explosion in Zaporizhzhya, declarations of a counter-offensive on Kherson, Zelensky’s firm refusal to compromise, the West’s persistence in cutting off all ties with Russia – all these are signs that they have decided to stand until the end,” he wrote.
“They can be understood: Russia actually (and this is not propaganda) challenged the West as a civilisation.
“So we have to go all the way to the end, too.
“The Supreme Commander-in-Chief [Putin] said that we haven't really started anything yet.
“Now we have to start. Whether you want it or not, we’ll have to.”
He warned: “Now the question is not whether the government wants or does not want change.
“Such changes are simply inevitable - even if you stand to death against their beginning, it will be possible to delay it for no more than six months.
“And then they will come anyway.”
Crucially he warned Putin that the military operation, crushing Ukraine and defeating the West “is now more important than the power [itself].”
“The mighty forces of history have come into play, the tectonic plates have shifted.
“Let the old regime bury its dead. A new Russian time is coming. And it’s coming irreversibly.”
Respected Russian expert Andrei Piontkovsky said the murder of Dugina was professional, indicating that the secret services are behind it.
“It is clear these were Russian special services. Dugin is well-known as an informal spiritual leader of the ultra-fascist party, which has recently been increasingly criticising Putin as ‘not being fascist enough’,” he said.
According to Piontkovsky, Dugin and his accomplices had begun to worry Putin's entourage, just as Putin is trying in every possible way to freeze the conflict.
Former Russian MP Ilya Ponomarev - now exiled in Ukraine - has claimed a previously unknown anti-war group called National Republic Army was behind the attack.
But former Ukrainian MP Boryslav Bereza alleged the aim was to remove Dugin as a competitor for Putin's attention by hardline elements around the president.
But - as often in Russia - things did not go according to plan, with Dugin’s daughter killed instead of him.
There was quite a media campaign against Dugin ahead of the car explosion, it was claimed.
It was known Putin and his relations cooled recently due to the humiliation of the Russian army in Ukraine, he claimed.
