The Ilyin Center at the Russian State University for the Humanities linked student demands with Western influence

Higher Political School (HPS) named after. Ivan Ilyin at the Russian State University for the Humanities commented demands to rename the scientific center. The press service of the scientific center stated that the created group on VKontakte called “RGGU against Ilyin’s school” has no relation to the student community and was created “as part of the information war of the West and its supporters against Russia.” On April 12, a petition was posted in the group to rename the school. At the moment, more than 11 thousand people have signed it.

The press service of the school named after. Ivan Ilyin says that on April 10, an “attack of Western networks” began on the scientific center. As an example, the message contains a post by the Dozhd TV channel (included in the register of foreign agents) about the appointment of Alexander Dugin to the post of director of the school, as well as material about the school in the Italian newspaper La Stampa. In a message from the press service, the appearance of the public on VKontakte is associated with the specified materials. In addition, the HPS claims that the public and petition were not created by university students.

“On April 12, channels of left-wing “non-war fighters” such as Semin are connected to the information campaign to defam the HPS. And everywhere the same text is repeated with a set of simple curses and accusations. Perhaps at some stage the systems of the Ukrainian TsIPSO were also connected,” the scientific center said in a statement.

The VPS message also denies that Ivan Ilyin supported the views of the fascists. “Ivan Ilyin, for his part, completely disavowed his ‘imaginary sympathies for the Nazis’, coming out with specific Russian statist views, completely anti-Nazi,” noted the press service of the HPS.

On April 12, a petition “Against the Ivan Ilyin Educational and Scientific Center at the Russian State University for the Humanities” was published on the Change.org platform. The text of the petition was written on behalf of university students who oppose the creation of an “educational and scientific center named after the far-right philosopher Ivan Ilyin,” since the philosopher “condoned the activities of the German fascist regime” and “justified Hitler’s crimes.” The petition was also published in the public on VKontakte “RGGU against Ilyin’s school.” The group’s website does not indicate its creator or any contacts for public administrators. Rector of the Russian State University for the Humanities Alexander Bezborodov told Kommersant that the publication of the petition was carried out “in the interests of the Ukrainian special services.”

Higher Political School named after. Ivan Ilyin was established at the Russian State University for the Humanities in July 2023. According to information in her VKontakte group, it was created to implement a program of additional education for vice-rectors for educational work of universities of the Ministry of Education and Science, and not to work with students. In April 2024, the media noticed that the school was headed by philosopher and political scientist Alexander Dugin. “It is obvious that at the center of this operation are the same forces that wanted to kill me and killed Dasha. Nothing changes. The Russian Idea is what they are all afraid of most,” – so Mr. Dugin commented campaign against the school in his Telegram channel.

Read more in the Kommersant article. “A philosophical question is being asked to be put to a vote.”.

Polina Motyzlevskaya