Kremlin refuses to join debate over research center named for Hitler-sympathizing philosopher whom Putin has called one of his favorites
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that the Kremlin wants to stay out of the debate over a new Russian research center named after Ivan Ilyin, a 20-century tsarist philosopher who expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
“We’d prefer not to be involved in this discussion. The president has indeed quoted Ilyin on multiple occasions,” Peskov told journalists.
The Ivan Ilyin Higher Political School at the Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU), which opened in the summer of 2023, made headlines earlier this month when it was reported that far-right ideologue and Kremlin consultant Alexander Dugin would lead the center. On April 12, students at RGGU launched a petition to rename it, writing:
A research center at one of the leading academic institutions of the country that defeated fascism cannot bear the name of a supporter of fascist ideas, bearing in mind the socio-political situations our country is currently in.
On April 17, Russian lawmaker Vladimir Isakov called for an investigation into the decision to name the school after Ilyin, noting that the philosopher’s statements would fall under Russia’s law against “rehabilitating Nazism” if he made them today.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly quoted Ivan Ilyin on multiple occasions and referred to him as one of his favorite philosophers.
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