MOSCOW, August 22. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram with his condolences to the family of journalist Darya Dugina who had been killed in a car bombing, the Kremlin said.
"Dear Alexander Gelyevich and Natalia Viktorovna, please accept my sincere condolences and words of support in connection with the gravest, and irreparable loss that has befallen you," the president said to the woman’s parents, according to the telegram, which the Kremlin posted on its website.
"A vile, cruel crime cut short the life of Darya Dugina, a bright, talented person with a true Russian heart: one that’s kind, loving, sympathetic and open. As a journalist, scientist, philosopher and war correspondent, she honestly served the people, the Fatherland, and proved with her deeds what it means to be a patriot of Russia," the telegram said.
Putin said that "the memory of Darya Dugina will forever be preserved by her relatives and friends, the people that shared her beliefs and associates." The president wished the family of the journalist strength and courage in connection with the tragedy.
An explosive device went off in a Toyota Land Cruiser as it travelled along a highway near the village of Bolshiye Vyazyomy, in the Moscow Region, on the evening of August 20. The vehicle subsequently burst into flames. It was established that an explosive device had been planted under the vehicle’s floor on the driver's side. Dugina, who was driving the car, was killed instantly. Criminal proceedings have been launched on murder charges (paragraph F of part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code’s article 105). It will be investigated by the central office of Russia’s Investigative Committee.
The Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, told TASS on Monday that Dugina’s murder had been solved. According to the federal agency, it had been masterminded by the Ukrainian secret services and executed by Ukrainian national Natalia Vovk, who fled to Estonia following the crime.