We have approached a fundamental change in Russia itself. Everyone talks about the ‘party of war’ and the ‘party of peace’.  I think these expressions are wrong. This was the case in 2014, but it no longer fits the new conditions.

The “party of peace” does not exist in today’s Russia, because peace with the West is not possible under current conditions. At the current level of confrontation, the West will crush anyone who has anything to do with Russian power and will not even accept capitulation. Of course, there are still signals to the elite from the West: ‘take out the commander-in-chief, force him to surrender and we will forgive you’. But this in the first place is impossible, and in the second place it is not true, they will not forgive.

But there is no ‘war party’ either. It could theoretically exist (but in fact did not exist) before 22 February 2022. Now it makes no sense. The war with the West (not with Ukraine) is in full swing, and there is no need to escalate the situation further – nothing can be brought back anyway, the point of no return has been passed, and there is no need to force events.

Today all those who stayed in Russia, who are fighting in Ukraine, who are loyal to the president and who consider themselves full citizens – we are all “the party of war”. In a way. But the SWO was not initiated by this party, it was initiated by history itself, by the logic of Russian statehood. There was nothing subjective or artificially organised, solicited. It was simply inevitable, and it happened.

What do we mean, though, when we use these formulas? For a country engaged in a vital confrontation with the West – with all the West and the non-Western countries loyal to it – we have (at least so far) a political and ideological structure that is totally unsuitable – to put it mildly, not really suitable. Everything here is man-oriented, and what he cannot lay his hands on, or does not care about, is left to whomever he wants. The people are the elite. And they are not good at all.

They are manageable and obedient, that is an advantage, but they are completely irrational, completely focused on the West and on corruption, they have no qualities necessary for a civilised confrontation. They are pure cynics, having adapted to any condition in the last decades.  They lack culture, honour, conscience, loyalty and ideology. Most also lack the administrative skills they boast of and replace them with sophisticated PR and GR strategies.

They are called the ‘peace party’, although they are not for peace at all, they are just categorically unfit for war.  They are totally loyal to the Commander-in-Chief and have no will of their own or their own agenda – those that do, have been dealt with in the earlier stages. The only ones left are those who are completely domesticated. From above they appear to be instrumental (obedience to the Commander-in-Chief). From below they appear to be traitors and bastards (not all, but almost).  This is why the commander-in-chief is annoyed by the talk of the ‘peace party’, but it is a sociological fact that cannot be undone, one just has to interpret it correctly.

By ‘peace party’, society means the total inadequacy of the elites. It is from below, from the front line, from the camps, from the elements of ordinary everyday life, that this can be seen quite transparently and unequivocally. Moreover, people do not judge by relationships – by facial expressions, grimaces and intonations – but by body language. And when a narcissistic egomaniac, playing with his moustache, says something that goes against the state of the people, the audience cries out, “There he is… a traitor!” But the commander-in-chief is puzzled: “What are they saying? There is no one more obedient…”.

So we have identified the problem: the leader and the people speak a different language.

The people understand, from their position, that the elite must be changed urgently, otherwise there will be no Victory. It is not the elite of Victory, it has nothing in common with it.  All intermediary instances between the commander-in-chief and society are closed to the elite, and society sees that this intermediary is inadequate. It cannot be taken for granted that the higher authority is inadequate – especially under military conditions. So the fault lies with the perpetrators and they are really to blame. The supreme is legitimate, the elite is not.

Today the state is mobilising the people for victory, seemingly reluctantly, by force. It is already clear to everyone that the situation will not be resolved in a purely technical way. The war (with the West) is becoming a people’s war, a war of civilisation. People want us to explain our values, our goals and our horizons to them. It is also necessary simply to talk to the Ukrainians in the territories liberated by the junta – because, let’s face it, they will never leave us again. And we will never leave them again. We will not leave Bucha, Irpen, Kyiv and Lviv. And what will we tell them? Who are we, what do we want from them? Why did we come? Who do we think they are?

Here it is necessary to give a strong and clear answer of civilisation. We are a great and distinctive East Slavic (Eurasian) Orthodox civilisation. We are the Empire, we are the bearers of a sacred Tradition. We are fighting to the death against the civilisation of the Antichrist. We are building a new world, and it will be just and beautiful. We are you. We are all one, we are united not only by the past, but also by the future. Let us build our dream together.

This is what we have to say now: to all of us, to ourselves, to those who are with us, and also to those who are fighting against us. Some fight out of conviction and others doubt who we are, believing in the superficial side of things. We are an empire, not a corporation. The last and only empire of the Spirit. It has nothing to do with war and peace, it has to do with being or nothingness (unless we say it now and then do exactly what we said).

I imagine that the commander-in-chief thinks so. I firmly know that this is what the people are waiting for, what we are all waiting for, but this is in no way compatible with the current elite. They do not know these words, they do not have the facial expression with which these words should be spoken. It is about something else – everywhere in the economy, in culture, in education, in information, in government, in administration – and even among the security forces; it is about something else. It should be about that and nothing else.

The people at the front are becoming a new force. A real Russian and Eurasian force. And there is a brotherhood being forged between Russians, Chechens, Tatars, Dagestanians and even Ukrainians – a new true brotherhood, the brotherhood of war, the brotherhood of victory. It is already impossible not to come to terms with them, because they are the people of victory – it is not about submission and control, it is about the spirit, the values, the things worth dying for. For what you can suffer, for what you can be tormented, burnt, torn to pieces, mutilated. It is something very great, important and profound. It is the supreme element of the Spirit, which has become a body, something tangible, concrete – the Fatherland, the People, the Power, the Faith.

And in their background the elite crumbles before their eyes. He is not capable under these conditions, he is not suitable for everyone. It is good that he is obedient, but this is now completely insufficient. Today it is not necessary to force obedience, but to awaken the inner will of the people, which comes from the depths of strength. It can either enlighten, illuminate and purify the elite (not all of whom are scoundrels), or wipe them out.

Wiped out is the worst case scenario. But… our enemies are not bad sociologists. They too see everything. And they have their own cunning plan: to use the awakening of Russian – patriotic – strength against Russia itself. The blow will be struck at the elites, who are perceived as traitors in the military conditions, but it will hit a different target. This is the calculation of hybrid warfare. This should not happen.

Now we have to do the exact opposite of what we decided to do – and decided to freeze everything and “not change horses at the crossroads”. This is exactly what our enemies are waiting for. The indignation of the people is growing, while on the other side nothing is changing on purpose.

Today, not changing anything means destroying and wrecking what we have.

The “party of the status quo” is the “party of traitors”. Of course, it does not want any peace, because no peace is possible. But it is mortally afraid of a popular awakening, of becoming its own party. And so it is not leading the way to peace, but is pushing victory away, preventing it.

It is the ‘party of defeat’. And that is a whole other issue.