I cannot have been alone in feeling conflicted when I saw the images of Alexander Dugin, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fascist ideologue, staring with his head in his hands at the bombed-out car that his daughter had been driving.

Dugin is, by any measure, a nasty piece of work. His ideas have veered about over the years, but his hatred for open societies is a constant. He has gone from an interest in the occult to a chauvinistic elevation of Russian Orthodoxy, from self-proclaimed “Russian fascism” to traditionalist conservatism. But he is clear about one thing: Russian imperialism is the route to spiritual purification. Dugin’s doctrines are said to have a direct and immediate influence over Putin. He has spent years arguing for the forcible annexation of Ukraine as a first step toward eventual confrontation with the decadent West.