VLADIMIR Putin's "spiritual guide" Alexander Dugin narrowly escaped a car bomb attack that blew up his propagandist daughter, reports say.
The Neo-Nazi mystic - said to be an architect of the Ukraine war and dubbed "Putin's Rasputin" - switched cars at the last minute on Saturday evening.
He and his daughter were guests of honour at the Tradition family festival at the Zakharovo estate and had planned to leave together, according to violinist and pal Peter Lundstrem.
But Dugin hopped into another vehicle and unknowingly dodged the attempted assassination, according to reports.
Minutes later the far-right racist philosopher was pictured holding his head in horror as he stood amid the aftermath of the explosion.
Darya is said to have been killed instantly when her Toyota Land Cruiser Prado erupted in a fireball blast in Bolshie Vyazemy, on the outskirts of Russia's capital, reports.
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She had become a public figure in her own right as a "political analyst" and editor of pro-Putin publication United World International.
Hours before her reported death, Darya had been pictured strolling through the prestigious event with her father, the philosopher known as "Putin's Brain".
Local media quickly labelled the explosion as an assassination attempt on the Russian author.
Putin stooge Denis Pusilin, leader of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, claimed Dugin was the intended target.
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He confirmed Darya was dead and pointed the blame at "terrorists of the Ukrainian regime".
He said on Telegram: "Blessed memory of Daria, she is a real Russian girl!"
Darya was placed on the sanctions list by the UK and the US back in April for running a "platform for Russian ultra-nationalists to spread disinformation and propaganda."
In March she had appeared in an interview with Russian YouTuber Nikolai Rosov in which she branded the West and Europe "totalitarian racists, colonialists, and Nazis."
She staunchly supported the invasion of Ukraine, calling for "absolute unity" in her country, adding: "No [other] voices are allowed."
Her famous father Dugin has no official role in government but is said to be a close pal and hugely influential adviser to the Russian President.
He co-founded the National Bolshevik Party in 1993, before becoming a prominent fascist figure and Putin backer.
Sporting a massive bedraggled beard like his namesake, Alexander long called for an invasion of Ukraine and chillingly believes that Moscow has the right to rule over all of Europe and Asia.
His writings - which have been required reading for Russian soldiers - proclaim a paranoid worldview promoting his demand for Moscow control everything "from Vladivostok to Dublin".
He is most famous for his 1997 book Foundations of Geopolitics, which sets out his ultranationalist and neo-fascist ideology of Eurasianism.
He also came up with the extremist notion of "new Russia" - which is said to have inspired Putin to annexe Crimea in 2014 before setting his sights on the rest of Ukraine.
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Dugin believes Russia is the modern-day reincarnation of the ancient "Hyperboreans" - who need to stand at odds with the modern-day "Atlanteans", the United States.
Experts have warned the current war in Ukraine could have granted Dugin a "new field for influence" over the Kremlin.