Vladimir Putin’s chief ideologue has urged Russians to prepare for the end of the world — in comments widely read as a thinly veiled reference to the growing threat of nuclear war between Moscow and its enemies, including the UK.
Alexander Dugin, 64, an ultra-nationalist philosopher often described as the spiritual architect of the Kremlin’s worldview, warned of eternity arriving imminently, claiming the moment of free choice could soon vanish forever.
In an apocalyptic online post, Dugin called on all unbaptised Russians to be baptised immediately and urged those who do not attend church to start doing so without delay to prepare for paradise in the afterlife.
“We can’t be sure that eternity won’t arrive soon, and then it will be too late,” he wrote.
“One day, eternity will arrive, and the moment of free choice will disappear.
“Everything will disappear, but the decision to undergo holy baptism and the church sacraments will remain.”
While Dugin did not explicitly mention nuclear weapons, his doom-laden language closely mirrors the way Kremlin-aligned ideologues have long framed the prospect of nuclear escalation — as an irreversible civilisational rupture after which only faith, not politics or choice, remains.
His remarks come against the backdrop of Russia’s fourth year of war in Ukraine, renewed nuclear signalling by Moscow, and demonstrative missile launches including the Oreshnik system which Putin unleashed on Ukraine on Friday, just 40 miles from NATO territory in Poland.
The 8,000 mph nuclear-capable hypersonic weapon – touted by Russian officials as a strategic deterrent – was tracked by Polish air defences but alliance fighters were not scrambled.
Dugin added ominously: “This moment of freedom will likely be with us for only a very short time.
“Our faith is in the Saviour. No one can save us except Him. It is to Him that we must go. Without delay.”
Russian Orthodox-nationalist thinkers have frequently portrayed nuclear war not simply as destruction, but as a metaphysical dividing line — a point beyond which history, choice and compromise cease to exist.
Dugin has long argued that Russia is engaged in a civilisational struggle with the West, and that catastrophic sacrifice may be justified if it secures what he calls Russia’s historic mission.
The philosopher’s own life has been marked by tragedy.
In August 2022, his daughter Darya Dugina, 29, a prominent pro-Kremlin commentator, was killed in a car bombing outside Moscow — an attack Russian authorities blamed on a Ukrainian hit squad.
He was likely the real target of the strike.
Since her death, Dugin’s rhetoric has grown increasingly mystical, fatalistic and apocalyptic.
Critics believe his latest message appears designed to prepare Russian society psychologically for extreme escalation, dressing the prospect of mass destruction in religious and moral language.
One said:“When Dugin talks about eternity arriving soon, he isn’t preaching theology — he’s translating nuclear war into something Russians are meant to accept.”
Whether intended as prophecy, warning or ideological conditioning, the message is stark: time is running out.
