A supranationalist philosopher called “Putin’s brain” for his influence on the Russian leader said the country’s withdrawal from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, was a “temporary situation”. Alexander Dugin, a neo-Eurasian ideologue known for his influence in the Kremlin, made the remarks in an interview with Turkish media. The comments were later covered by the Russian wired service RIA Novosti, which largely advertises anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, Yahoo News reported. Earlier this month, Russian forces withdrew from Kyiv after trying to seize the Ukrainian capital. The Russian military has relocated from the area to focus on the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine, Pentagon and NATO officials said. In the interview, Dugin referred to the Russian withdrawal as a “purely tactical move” that would allow the Russian military to regroup and carry out “revisions” under the newly appointed General Alexander Dvornikov, a key figure in Russia’s 2015 campaign in Syria. “The Russian military is currently fighting the dominant forces that impose a monopoly world,” Dugin said, referring to countries allied with Ukraine, including the United States. “We can not lose this war. Otherwise, the whole world will turn into a great fire.” Daniel Treisman, a political science professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and an expert on Russian politics, said it was “certainly possible” that Russian President Vladimir Putin would direct Russian forces to try to retake Kyiv. “It is certainly possible – indeed very likely – that Putin will want to take another knife during the occupation of Kiev, if he believes at some point in the future that his army is more likely to succeed,” Treisman told Insider. “But I would not give much credence to comments made in a Turkish newspaper by a nationalist ‘philosopher’ and then received by Russian state journalists.” “If Dugin is the best source RIA Novosti can find to comment on Russia’s military plans, the situation must be extremely murky,” he added. Despite the relocation of Russian troops to the east, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that Putin could still seek to occupy all of Ukraine. Dugin reinforced this idea in the interview, saying that Russia’s brutal campaign in eastern Ukraine alone “is not a victory” for the country. “Our troops will not return home until targets are destroyed across the country and security is restored or until Zelensky surrenders,” Dugin was quoted as saying by Yahoo News.
