Dugin Says Russia Must Empty Moscow and Other Large Cities to Save the Country from an Upcoming Nuclear War

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 14 – Aleksandr Dugin, the outspoken Russian philosopher who has enormous influence on the Kremlin, says that the populations of Moscow and other large cities must be evicted and dispersed to villages so as to save the country from what he says is a looming nuclear war with the West.

            If Russians remain in the major cities, these will become far easier targets for Western attacks, he says, arguing that if people are spread out in villages, the West won’t be able to kill as many (ru.themoscowtimes.com/2026/08/14/nebudet-nimoskvi-nisankt-peterburga-dugin-prizval-massovo-viselyat-rossiyan-izmegapolisov-radi-yadernoi-voini-szapadom-a203505).

            In the past, Dugin has called for the de-urbanization of the country so as to boost the birthrate given that fertility in villages has remained relatively high while that metric in major cities has fallen to well below replacement levels. But this is his first invocation of the need for rapid deurbanization in anticipation of a war.

            Like many of Dugin’s other pronouncements, the Russian government is unlikely to follow his advice. Indeed, there are good reasons to think it can’t given the increasing desire of Russians to live in major cities rather than in smaller ones or villages. But his words undoubtedly do reflect the kind of hallway talk in official circles that is now going on.

            And his decision to add the threat of a nuclear war to the reasons for taking such actions may gain more support for the so-far limited de-urbanization efforts some officials have promoted; but the disappearance of Moscow or St. Petersburg or even their significant decline in size is to say the least highly improbable.