Russian ultranationalist Aleksandr Dugin hit by backlash on Chinese social media after defending Ukraine invasion

The political philosopher was reminded of Russia’s imperialist history, with one user asking for the return of territory taken from China in the 19th century

Dugin once said China should be ‘dismantled’ but now says the country should unite with Russia ‘because the future belongs to us’ not the West

Reading Time:2 minutes

The commentator and academic posted his first video on Weibo this week. Photo: Weibo/ 亚历山大杜金

Published: 8:00pm, 8 May 2024

The ultranationalist Russian political philosopher Aleksandr Dugin has been hit with a backlash from Chinese social media users after joining the popular platform Weibo to defend the invasion of Ukraine.

The former Moscow State University professor – who has switched from a fiercely anti-Chinese stance to a pro-Beijing one – published a 3½-minute video on the platform on Monday, gaining around 52,000 followers by Wednesday afternoon.

“Nihao [hello], dear Chinese friends,” Dugin said at the beginning of the video, which was apparently filmed in his study.

Behind him was a photo of his daughter Darya, who was killed in a car bomb near Moscow in September 2022, an attack that is still shrouded in mystery.

Speaking in Russian, with Chinese subtitles, he praised China’s development saying it has “not only changed the world’s economic landscape, but has also demonstrated strong vitality in many fields such as culture and science and technology”.

“All these make me feel that communication with China is very important,” Dugin added.