Kremlin sociologist warns Russia at risk of civil war

In an article, the head of the presidential administration for monitoring and analysing social processes condemns those who theorise about ‘a completely post-Russian state’. He announces the imminent approval of a new law on patriotic education, which will involve all organs of power, educational institutions and other social structures of the state.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Kremlin's chief sociologist, Aleksandr Kharičev, has issued a warning about the possible outbreak of civil war in the Russian Federation due to the accumulation of social, economic and political conflicts, despite the regime's fierce repression of all forms of dissent.

In an article for the magazine Gosudarstvo (‘The State’) entitled ‘Who are we?’, the head of the presidential administration for monitoring and analysing social processes called for reflection on Russia's ‘genetic code’, pointing to civil war as one of the challenges that should not be underestimated in the current circumstances.

The article also seeks to respond to the recent meetings of the Forum of “Free States of Post-Russia”, which meets regularly in various countries to express its desire to build “not a new Russia, but a completely post-Russian state”.

Other challenges mentioned include the loss of political, territorial and cultural sovereignty, demographic decline, Russian citizens' declining trust in the authorities and the collapse of the political system, leading to the “dehumanisation” and reduction of Russians to mere “consumers”.

According to Kharičev, what is needed is the “formation of a united and compact social space”, based on the ideological mantra “We do not abandon our own”, considered the “true code of our civilisation”, which allows us to defend ourselves against the loss of sovereignty at all levels.

The supreme sociologist announced the imminent approval of a new law on patriotic education, which will commit all organs of power, educational institutions and other social structures of the state to educating citizens in areas corresponding to the real needs for the future of the country. He stressed that the war against Ukraine has currently “helped to prevent the loss of sovereignty”, recalling that until a few years ago, the country's elites were accustomed to sending their children to study abroad, guaranteeing themselves a secure pension in other countries.

The richest “headed for the French Riviera, the poorest for Montenegro, and in any case we were losing our best people, leading to the depletion of our economic, technological and political potential... for Russia, the Svo [Special Military Operation in Ukraine] was truly a purification”.

The demographic decline that increasingly threatens Russia's future is described as “a common global problem, as a consequence of the globalist experiment”, which has spread everywhere “a virus that has infected the mentality with inadequate and reckless categories”, such as “child-free and LGBT propaganda”.

All this risks ‘plunging us into a demographic abyss, leading to the annihilation of our people’. In response, Kharičev insists on spreading family values, to the point of creating ‘the fashion for large families’, perhaps even in the cinema, where films should only show families with at least three children.

To strengthen citizens' trust in the government, the sociologist believes it is essential to practise meritocracy, the principle of administration according to which the most capable people should be placed in positions of leadership, implying that this is not currently the case in public administration.

Furthermore, it is necessary to educate “the man of the future” to be well grounded in the values of “active patriotism”, “creative work”, service and solidarity, unity among peoples and traditional ethical norms: “we do not need armchair patriots, but people who are able to respond to the needs of themselves, their families and their country,” concludes Kharičev.