The Special Military Operation Is Now a War
Russia as Katechon against the dying West
Constantin von Hoffmeister argues that the Special Military Operation’s transformation into war confirms Russia’s self-declared role as the Katechon defending tradition against the dying liberal West.
On July 5, 2026, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made a statement that marked an important turning point in Russia’s public description of the conflict. He said that the Special Military Operation had become a war. For years, Russian officials had consistently used the original term, even as the fighting expanded and foreign involvement grew. Peskov explained that the conflict had changed because Western governments had become deeply involved through the steady supply of advanced weapons, intelligence, satellite support, military planning, and financial assistance. His words reflected what many had already concluded from events on the battlefield. The conflict had moved beyond the confines of a limited operation and become a wider struggle shaped by outside powers. Russian forces continue to advance, establish defensive positions, and strengthen the security perimeter along the front, while the scale of foreign participation increasingly influences the course of military operations. Peskov’s statement acknowledged this new reality and connected political decisions made in distant Western capitals to the conditions now faced by soldiers on the battlefield.
Alexander Dugin argues that the Special Military Operation has turned into a full-scale war not by mistake or chance but as the natural outcome of a deep civilizational confrontation between Russia as a sovereign state-civilization and the West. According to him, this conflict reveals a fundamental ontological and metaphysical antagonism, a historic inevitability guided by fate, Providence, and Russia’s sacred mission.
What is the significance?
