On February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the Executive Order On the Recognition of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Executive Order On the Recognition of the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR). Commenting on the recognition of the independence from Ukraine of the DPR and LPR, anti-liberal Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin published an article titled: "Glory To Novorossiya! The Beginning Of The Second Slavic Reconquista Has Begun."
Novorossiya ("New Russia") is the name that was given, in the 18th century, to the lands of the Black Sea littoral, incorporated in Russia as a result of wars with the Ottoman Empire. In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a dream to revive a historic region called Novorossiya. However, in 2015, the project was declared frozen. Oleg Tsaryov, who at the time was the speaker of Novorossiya's "Unitary Parliament," said: "The work of Novorossiya [official] structures has been frozen because it does not conform to the [Minsk II] peace agreement signed in the presence of the Normandy Four countries [Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France]."[1]
In 2018, Ukrainian ambassador Boris Humeniuk wrote: "According to the plans of Moscow strategists, the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine including Odessa, Nikolayev, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kharkiv were supposed to rebel against the Kyiv and declare themselves a new state entity named 'Novorossiya' which, like the annexed Crimea, should have been immediately joined to the 'mother Russia.'
"But it did not work that way. Kremlin dreamers did not take into account one fundamentally important circumstance. Then as now, they do not understand that the Ukrainian people finally got rid of the chains of inferiority and stepped onto the irreversible path of sovereign development and building of a democratic, prosperous, civilized society. Instead of the bizarre 'Novorossiya,' Russia's actions had led to the self-proclamation of two pseudo-state entities – 'Luhansk People's Republic' and 'Donetsk People's Republic' in the occupied areas of Eastern Ukraine, which are recognized to be terroristic organizations. Because of their inexpediency, these pseudo formations are not recognized neither by the world community nor Moscow itself."[2]
However, Putin declared that the Minsk agreements, which had the goal of ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine, were "dead" long before the recognition of the people's republics of Donbass, accusing the Kiev authorities of "killing" them. He said: "It is not seven but almost eight full years that we have been working on this [the Minsk agreements]. By 'we,' I mean Russia... I would like to emphasize again that we were interested in seeing this package of measures implemented, because it was the result of a compromise. The leaders of the two then unrecognized republics [DPR and LPR] signed these documents. Incidentally, one of them was killed in a terrorist act. He was killed by the special services of Ukraine, an agent of these services. There is no question here. This is an obvious thing, simply an outright political assassination.
"But what matters is that the leaders of the two republics signed these documents. We managed to broker this compromise at that time. By the way, it was not easy to do this because initially the leaders of these entities did not want to take part in the Minsk agreements and to sign their names to these documents. But a compromise was reached nonetheless, which was real progress towards achieving a settlement by peaceful means.
"As it was said yesterday during the Security Council meeting, over all these years, the efforts of the current Kiev authorities reduced it all to naught. So, the Minsk agreements were dead long before yesterday’s recognition of the people’s republics of Donbass. They were killed not by us and not by the representatives of these republics, but by the current Kiev authorities."
He then explained: "The recognition of these republics was dictated precisely by the fact that the Ukrainian leadership had publicly declared that they were not going to abide by these agreements. Not going to abide by them. Well, what else can you say to that? The top officials have publicly said so."
Putin also added that Russia will provide the DPR and the LPR with appropriate assistance, including military assistance. According to Dugin, this is the beginning of a new Russian Spring and the beginning of the implementation of the Novorossiya project. Dugin also considers Putin's decision as a step forward towards a multipolar order that will put an end to the U.S.-led unipolar one.[3]
(Source: Geopolitica.ru)
Following is Dugin's article:[4]
"We Have Entered The Russian Spring-2"
"I
"Seven years since 2014, it was too painful for me to comment on the topic of the DPR and LPR and Ukraine in general. I experienced the end of the Russian Spring as a personal drama and a terrible loss. I did everything possible – contrary to the then intentions of the Kremlin, to hold a referendum on the independence of the DNR and LNR. Some people close to me died in the battle for Donbass. Part of me – maybe the best part – died there. The notes that I wrote in the spring of 2014 amounted to a whole book 'Ukraine: my war.' It has been published and translated into several foreign languages. At the word 'Novorossiya' all these years I experienced acute pain – physical. I could not understand our government, why it stopped what it should not have done, and did not do what it obviously should have. I don't understand even now. It was quite clear to me that this would not be the case. My last speech on federal channels (on Channel One) sounded like this:
"'We will lose Donbass, we will lose Crimea. We will lose Crimea, we will lose Russia.'
"It is precisely because of its content that it became the last.
"Then the Minsk negotiations began. But then I stopped saying anything on this subject. One wrong decision logically followed another. Everything was to no avail. The Kremlin was not ready to act decisively in a situation that was geopolitically crystal clear. The globalists took Ukraine from us. And until we return everything back, they will not calm down, and will press further. No one will recognize Crimea until we force them to do so.
"Trump, with his realism, was a window of opportunity for a relatively harmonious settlement of the situation. He was not a globalist. But this did not happen. When the globalist and atlantist Biden again climbed into power, everything became fatal again. And now, with a delay of seven nightmarish years, the Kremlin is doing what it should have done a long time ago. Here it is the terrible price of the phrase 'better late than never.' But really, it's better than never. Better.
"Today, February 21, 2022, we recognized the DNR and LNR. Moreover, within the borders before the start of the punitive operation. The civilian population is rapidly leaving the Donbass. It means exactly what you think.
"We have now passed the point of no return. You can no longer turn back. It's late.
"We have entered the Russian Spring-2. My friends, brothers and sisters of Donbass waited. How unbearable they were these seven years. I couldn't look them in the eye like I did the Serbs after the NATO bombing of Belgrade. Then we had to help. And they didn't help. With the people of Donbass, it is no less scary and humiliating. Yes, we did not abandon them, did not betray them to the end. But they didn't. Just now woke up.
"I don't even have the faintest idea why now. And how was the process of geopolitical planning the previous seven years. Someone thinks that we have bought time. I think we have lost it. But again – '[better late] than never.' And so the page is closed. We are entering a new period.
"In such a situation, it is immoral to distance oneself, remain silent, or withdraw. In the face of people and history. Therefore, we begin the Russian Eurasian mobilization. Let's go as far as we can. I do not see and do not want any other way, no other fate. The battle for Ukraine, according to Brzezinski, is a condition for the revival of our Empire. To prevent this, the West carried out the Maidan and the subsequent coup. Strictly according to the plans of the Atlanticists. And the response of the Eurasians can be only one. The same one. Well, let's start with a confession. It's already a gesture. And that is determination.
"God grant that it continues.
"The Spirit That Lives In Donbass Will Change Everything"
"II
"02/22/2022 – after the President's address
"So. Everything! The train stop is over. Seven years of horror completed. The train of history has moved on. Naturally, this is just the beginning. During this time, we have suffered terrible losses. Our loved ones died. The stagnation wore on the nerves. Lies poisoned feelings and thoughts. The point of no return is over. For the last time I will say: those who seven years ago supported the 'cunning plan' that did not exist, to put it mildly... In a word, we were right this time too. People of the Russian Spring. Warriors of Novorossiya.
"Novorossiya is the territory of the future. And now 'Crimea is ours' will seem like a compromise and a half-measure. The spirit that lives in the Donbass will change everything. Not only in Novorossiya, but also in Russia itself. It's not easy to take him off the agenda.
"The President spoke about decommunization. I think he meant only that Russia is more than one century old and that we are the bearers of a new ideology – not liberal, obviously, but not communist either. We are the people of the Empire. We Russians are not about the past, we are about the future.
"'Crimea is ours' has detached the 5th column from power. Now there will be a detachment of the 6th. The fluctuations of a number of figures in the Security Council are either a disguise (for the security forces), or the tip of the iceberg. A significant part of the Russian elite today received a crushing blow. In 2014, the 6th column laid down on the embrasure so that the Donbass would never become "ours." And for seven years this defense held. Today the gates of the city cracked. What happens next will not be easy. Probably more difficult than it looks. And of course, Washington and London already at this moment include their countermeasures. Some of them are predictable, but some are not. We must prepare for the real big confrontation.
"Congratulations to the people of Novorossiya. It is you, with your life, with your blood, with your faith, that made this day possible. This is your victory. Let's remember those who are no longer with us. No, this is a wrong expression: our dead are always with us, and only they are truly with us, because the dead do not betray.
"Glory to Novorossiya! The second beginning of the great Slavic Reconquista has begun."
[1] Carnegiemoscow.org/commentary/60249, May 29, 2015.
[2] Cyprus.mfa.gov.ua/en/news/6173-article-the-failure-of-the-novorossiya-project-as-a-symbol-of-invincibility-of-the-ukrainian-people, May 9, 2018.
[3] Facebook.com/agdugin/photos/a.10154312708817602/10158939055907602/, May 21, 2022.
[4] Katehon.com/ru/article/da-zdravstvuet-novorossiya-nachalo-bolshoy-slavyanskoy-rekonkiste-polozheno?fbclid=IwAR1BDLfcbEeAzA2SHxnLKhnEcbztwAsVLa2EnQNNdyapGU2xXiggCox9QdQ, February 22, 2022.
