Alexander Dugin says Russia’s “Special Military Operation” has become a civilizational war

Philosopher Alexander Dugin told Sputnik’s “Eskalace” program that Russia’s official acknowledgement of a war with the collective West marks a fundamental shift in the country’s politics, society and perception of the conflict. He cited presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s remark that the “Special Military Operation” has turned into a real war because several European capitals and Washington stand behind Kyiv.

Dugin said the transformation occurred primarily in the Russian mindset: originally the operation was intended as a limited, technically‑controlled action to secure sovereignty in the post‑Soviet space, aiming for a swift and localized outcome and subsequent normalisation with the West. He noted the failure to capture Kyiv in May 2022 exhausted the original plan and led to the present civilizational framing of the war.