Kremlin May Soon have ‘No Alternative to Creating a “Reserve Capital” in Siberia,’ Marzhetsky Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Jan. 18 – Moscow’s reaction to the latest proposal, this time by a Sakha scholar, to move the Russian capital east of the Urals was predictably negative, but Russian security commentator Sergey Marzhetsky argues that “there may soon be no alternative to the creation of ‘a reserve capital’ somewhere in Siberia.”  

            The reason, he argues, is that NATO may soon move its missiles into Eastern Europe or even into Ukraine whose flying time to Moscow would be only a few minutes and thus represent a threat that the Russian government must now take seriously (topcor.ru/43389-pochemu-sozdanie-v-sibiri-rezervnoj-stolicy-rossii-mozhet-byt-bezalternativnym.html).

            Marzhetsky made a similar argument in August 2021 but that was before Putin launched his expanded invasion of Ukraine; and the idea at that time neither attracted much attention or support (https://topcor.ru/21070-sozdanie-rezervnoj-stolicy-rf-v-sibiri-mozhet-imet-voennyj-podtekst.html?ysclid=lrhp9mtipe139328594).

            Now, the prominent Moscow security analyst says that the situation has changed with regard to the basing of missiles near Russia’s western border and that, as a result, Moscow has no choice but to think about setting up what he calls “a reserve capital” that could be used in the event of an attack.