On the night of September 10, 2024, Ukrainian Army drones attacked Moscow. The international media described it as Ukraine's "biggest drone attack so far"[i] The attack killed a 46-year-old woman and injured three more people in Moscow's Ramenskoye district, which is about 30 miles south-east of the Kremlin. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Moscow region and Moscow have been repeatedly attacked by unmanned aerial vehicles.
Russian anti-liberal philosopher Alexander Dugin wrote an article saying that Moscow is a front-line city and that Russia itself is turning into Donbass. In March, Dugin wrote: "Moscow is also a front-line city, just like Donetsk, Sevastopol, and Belgorod. A country at war cannot have peaceful cities. It is better to realise this now and deeply." He added: "Ukraine is also Russia. Russia stretches from Lvov to Vladivostok, and it is at war."[ii]
In the September 10 article, Dugin stressed that the end of the war is not imminent, as this is the beginning of the increase of the war's intensity. He added that "victory" is only possible with the "mobilization" of all forces. By "mobilization," Dugin means not only the physical presence of Russians at the front, but that Russians' mental state must comply with wartime laws.
An apartment building damaged by a UAV attack on Vysokovoltnaya Street in the settlement of Ramenskoye (Moscow Oblast). (Source: Ilya Pitalev/RIA Novosti)
Following is Dugin's article:[3]
"War Brings Us To The Brink Of Death"
"[There was a] massive UAV attack on Russia, including the Moscow Oblast. Unfortunately, there are casualties.
"The entire group of UAVs were heading toward the capital tonight. The air defense system around Moscow was actively working [intercepting UAVs].
"Was this an extraordinary event? Alas, one has to admit that – not anymore. Moscow, like the rest of Russia in fact, is a front-line city. That means that everyone, potentially, is in danger.
"One can peacefully go to bed in a cozy apartment near Moscow and never wake up again. The war is penetrating deeper into the country. I do not even want to start talking about Kursk [i.e., the Ukrainian Army incursion into Kursk Oblast]. Everyone knows what is happening in Belgorod [Oblast, which Ukrainian troops raid and attack with drones and missiles].
"There is, obviously, no point in wondering over the question: Why are they doing this to us? Now it is clear – war is serious, war is irreversible, war – if you want – is forever. The war brings us to the brink of death. And the latter is irreversible. Death. Upon facing it once – at the front or in a peaceful apartment, in the city or on the highway – people then always live in its presence.
"Death from an accident can be discarded, somehow explained, dealt with. When death is out there somewhere far, when it affects strangers, a blind eye can be turned toward it. But when war comes, death enters our souls. With each passing day, almost routinely, death penetrates us more and more deeply. We become more and more profoundly aware of it – in the past, in the present, in the future."
"We Are In A War – That's A Fact, And It's Impossible To Get Out Of It... Without Victory"
"A man faces his finitude, not deferred – here and now. This gives a completely different dimension to our entire existence. People begin to see differently, feel differently, think differently. This happened to Donbass a long time ago. Very deep processes began there. Gradually, the rest of Russia is also turning into Donbass.
"The UAV attack on Russia, and especially on the Moscow Oblast, dispelled another set of illusions. Many were still waiting for the war to end, having understood nothing. And this is a fatal misconception. One must wait for a war. And only after fully realizing it, society is able to take the path of victory. In the future, it is not the end of the war that awaits us, but its beginning, or rather its culmination, the growth of its intensity, scale, length, and massiveness.
"And only when we reach the peak of mobilization of all forces, thoughts, resources, feelings, we will be able to see from this very peak of pain and of the acute presence of death, the horizon of victory. Victory in which everyone will participate. And if not, there will be no victory. Victory is granted by God as a gift. It never comes as a contingency.
"So, now it is pointless to deliberate over how we have found ourselves in a war. It is an inappropriate formula. We are in a war – that is a fact, and it is impossible to get out of it... without victory. We will have to enter the war."
