Alexandr Dugin considers Vladimir Putin to be the „true emperor of Russia.” He advised him to remove Lenin’s body from the mausoleum in Moscow to seal his legacy as the leader of Russia.
Dugin, a philosopher with far-right political orientation, views Putin as a more significant figure for Russian history than Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. The ideologist wants the body of the Russian revolutionary to be removed from the mausoleum in Moscow to make room for the Kremlin leader, the „true emperor of Russia,” according to a post on the Kremlin Snuffbox Telegram account, cited by Newsweek.
The philosopher mentioned to the cited source that he approached Putin with this idea. "I once wrote that faith in Putin is like faith in an emperor. I believe that our emperor lacks a series of attributes that will ultimately make his role sacred in Russian history. And the future resting place, a place of worship for all the victories of modern Great Russia - that is what is currently missing," Dugin reported.
Dugin referred to a previous post on his Telegram channel where he wrote: "Faith in Putin is like faith in an emperor. No, not in God, but not just in a man either. It is faith in Russia. The better the people who believe, the better the man they believe in. Sounds like the samurai code. If your fight is true, then its purpose is true."
Additionally, the Russian ideologist advised Putin to improve the mausoleum by restructuring it, decorating it with military trophies collected during the "special military operation," the name used by the Kremlin for the war in Ukraine, and preparing this building for his eventual burial.
"And when Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin) completes his earthly journey, there will be lines at his coffin. We will bring here flags of European states that we will conquer in the coming years and decades and Western tanks taken from our enemies," he added.
The Kremlin reportedly confirmed that it received Dugin's proposal but did not offer any comments on the matter. According to the Kremlin Snuffbox channel, close to the Kremlin, the Russian government only mentioned that "the president will survive much longer," a hint that the proposal to prepare Putin's final resting place in advance is premature.
Dugin's advice suggests that Putin's legacy has not been solidified yet, which could strain their relationship. Since this idea has been discussed in recent years without any changes being made, Dugin's efforts may be in vain, and Lenin may remain in the mausoleum, as noted by Newsweek.
In a post on X, Anton Gerashchenko, former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, wonders, referring to Dugin's proposal, if he has decided to follow in the footsteps of Prigozhin.
Alexandr Dugin, aged 63, is known for his influence on Putin and has been considered the main architect of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He has also been dubbed "Putin's brain" and placed on the sanctions list of the United States and the EU. Additionally, he has been accused by the Security Service of Ukraine of supporting the Kremlin's war.
Rumors about the health status of 72-year-old Vladimir Putin have been circulating since the beginning of the war. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, however, stated that the president is in good health after a hospital visit for "routine medical examinations" in October 2024.
The final resting place where Lenin's body has been for a century has been the subject of lengthy debates in Russia, with many contemporaries of the founder of the Soviet Union, as well as present-day residents of Moscow, supporting the idea of burying him.
When asked about this issue during a press conference, Putin stated, according to France24: "In my opinion, we should not touch that, at least while we have a lot of people who tie their own lives to it... with achievements from the past, from the Soviet years."
Plans to bury Lenin were rumored to have been abandoned last year, according to The Guardian.
T.D.