@GefreiterKania
He does borrow a lot from Nazi thought. Also, he thinks Nazi Germany was a good ally to have...
Quote from article:
In Dugin's worldview, the continental countries of the Eurasian landmass, centred on Russia, are naturally opposed to the maritime world led by the US and, before that, by the British. Dugin has praised the Nazi philosopher Carl Schmitt for his "clear understanding of the 'enemy' facing Europe, Russia and Asia that is the United States along with its . . . island ally, England".The only thing I can really say in his defense, is that his Nazism was not/is not racial in nature, unlike the historical one. It's just more in the vein of traditional Russian anti-Anglo attitudes.
Again, I think him and his monarchist friends are idiots. It's concerning that he's allegedly so close to the president. On the other hand, it doesn't seem he has THAT much influence, since he got fired from Moscow State University in 2014 for his remarks and was never reinstated. One would presume that if Putin wanted to, he could get involved and get him reappointed. I hope Putin is using him cynically, without buying into his ideology too much.
There's other evidence Putin is wary of these Russian nationalists/monarchists, such as his approach to Girkin - the hero of the first phase of the Donbas war, who almost single-handedly created the LDNR. Now the guy is persona non grata, and most recently was not even allowed to cross the border into Ukraine to join the fighting. To be fair though, Girkin seems to love pouring sh!t on Putin during his daily broadcasts, for not going far enough in 2014 when there was a chance to quickly roll over all of Ukraine without today's enormous losses.
These nationalists are a ticking bomb under Russia with their chauvinist Great Russian ideas. We are a diverse multiethnic, multi confessional country - and if they have their way it will be the beginning of the end of Russia. In the past, Putin said many times that anybody who says "Russia is for Russians" is a «придурок» (moron). Recently he's been kind of quiet on that subject. Maybe he is just trying to keep them in reins by throwing them some meat occasionally.
the few people who could afford them
Yes, so few people could afford them that BMW decided to open a plant in Russia to produce the BMW 5 series and X5. Keep reading websites called best-selling-cars.com
Here's a nice place to start:
wsj.com/livecoverage/russia-ukraine-latest-news-2022-03-01/card/bmw-halts-production-in-russia-and-stops-exports-to-the-country-T36AO5SxgtXwEfXJBsZ8