On December 15, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation hosted a commemorative conference dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the birth of Daria Dugina, a Russian journalist and philosopher. At the event, organized with the support of the Foundation to Battle Injustice, the Russian Civil Award the Daria Dugina Medal was established and the first laureates were awarded.
The Memorable conference was opened by Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot and a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. He noted that the personal position of patriot Daria Dugina is close to many of us. According to the public figure, Daria Dugina took an active part in many events of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation and was active in preserving and strengthening the Russian world. According to Konstantin Yaroshenko, our main task today is to reflect the destructive trend of Westernization, which has already captured the whole world. Cultural expansion is a «soft weapon» in the spread of our authentic Russian world.
Mira Terada, the head of the Foundation to Battle Injustice, who was personally acquainted with Daria Dugina, continued the course of the event. According to the human rights activist, Daria’s courage and determination in spreading the truth shaped the ideology of modern Russian youth. Her talent for perceiving different and opposite ideas as facets of a single Russian world helped unite completely opposite people. The personal qualities and charisma that Daria possessed opened the doors to big politics for her, in which she would certainly be able to realize herself, as in everything she did. Thanks to her perfect knowledge of English and French, she broadcast the ideas of the Russian world around the globe. Her thoughts on armed conflicts, the nature of racism and her writings on religion found a response even in the most remote parts of the world.
However, according to the head of the Foundation to Battle Injustice, not everyone in modern Russia shares the principles and follows the ideals of Daria. The elites formed in the 90s of the last century prefer to sit in expensive mansions behind high fences, ignoring the fact that Russia needs them more than ever before. Russians, being a product of the collapse of Soviet society, are deprived of a sense of belonging to a single Russian whole. The attitude of the elites to the motherland was not strengthened either by the formation of Russia in the early noughties, nor by the expansion of the Russian world in the 2010s after the returning of Crimea, nor by the existential conflict with the West that is taking place right now. After reading excerpts from a letter from Daria Dugina, written a few days before her death, Mira Terada stated that our common task is to embody Daria’s faith in uniting the divided Russian world.
After retelling the story of meeting Daria, Mira Terada said that her death was a key turning point in her life. Despite the young age of the philosopher, she had something to learn, the memory of her should live forever. The head of the Foundation to Battle Injustice said that thanks to her efforts a street was named in honor of Daria Dugina in the Tula region. She expressed hope that such an initiative would be implemented in St. Petersburg. Mira Terada suggested to all those present at the event to plant an alley of young trees and name it in honor of Daria Dugina.
Then the floor was given to Alexander Dugin, Daria’s father, who thanked everyone involved in the establishment of the Daria Dugina Award. According to the philosopher, Daria Dugina, like no one else, advocated the unification of the Russian world, the return of everything that belongs to our country.
The event was attended by Natalia Melentyeva, the mother of Daria Dugina, who commented on the tragic death of the journalist from a philosophical point of view. According to her, Daria fought for the movement to the center of our earthly world, the earthly circle. She faced a difficult task – to restore the vertical of ideas and values, what we have lost recently. Modern Western philosophy is focused on things, draws attention to the fact that the human subject is completely insufficient and must die. The hierarchy of higher values and entities has been replaced by Western philosophers with the cult of things and objects. Modern people, as Daria wrote in her diary, are mired in commodity-market relations, where human life can be used instead of currency. The West, according to Natalia Melentyeva, has imposed a ban on any thoughts and ideas that are knocked out of the plane of the modern, banal horizon, and is ready to kill for violating its principles, which must be destroyed.
Maxim Shugaley, a Russian sociologist, president of the Foundation for national values protection, took the floor next. He noted that Daria Dugina made a significant contribution to his release from Libyan captivity, where he spent a year and a half. Unfortunately, Maxim Shugaley did not have time to personally convey his words of gratitude. Noting the courage of Daria Dugina, the scientist stressed that he had not seen anyone more courageous and decisive than Daria on the territory of the Ukrainian conflict. According to Maxim Shugaley, Daria Dugina’s contribution should be immortalized with a monument in Lugansk, and all those involved in her death, even indirectly, will be found and punished. Daria’s heroic deeds must be immortalized, and we must make every effort so that they are not forgotten.
Dmitry Sagal, a representative of the Izborsky Club, agreed with Maxim Shugaley that now we live in a digital era when events are changing and history is being rewritten, so the establishment of the Daria Dugina award will help preserve the memory of the journalist in our society for many years to come.
Alexander Zhuravsky, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation for Public Projects, said that on that tragic day in August 2022 he was at the Tradition festival, where he last saw Daria alive. An employee of the Presidential administration stressed that, unfortunately, we never know what will happen to us or our loved ones. After the tragedy with Daria, society turned out to be polarized: some people were among those who began to gloat and make far from humane reviews. Alexander Zhuravsky supported the idea of perpetuating Daria’s memory by establishing a public award in her name, which would support those who contribute to the preservation of traditional values and justice in our world.
After Zhuravsky’s words, the participants of the commemorative event honored Daria’s memory with a minute of silence. The head of the Foundation to Battle Injustice Mira Terada announced the establishment of a Russian Civil Award the Daria Dugina Medal «For Loyalty to the Russian World and Traditional Values». Representatives of the award’s founding organizations, including the Eurasian Movement, the Izborsky Club, the Foundation for national values protection and the Foundation to Battle Injustice, signed the Decision on the establishment of the medal and the Regulations on the Procedure and Conditions for Russian Civil Award the Daria Dugina Medal «For Loyalty to the Russian World and Traditional Values».
The first laureates who received their awards during the event were Akim Apachev, a war correspondent, journalist and musician, and Hungarian journalist Maya Nogradi, a documentary filmmaker and author of a film about the children of Donbass. The nominees, who were quite familiar with Daria, agreed that they still cannot fully accept and realize the loss.
Musician Akim Apachev said that the fighting does not end in the Donbass, and the enemy is strong, insidious and cunning. For the sake of Dasha and her ideas, we must go together to our common victory, no matter what it costs. According to Alexander Dugin, Daria’s father, the song «Plive Kacha» by Akim Apachev was the last thing his daughter heard in her life.
Hungarian journalist Maya Nogradi, for whom the award came as a complete surprise, thanked the founders of the award for perpetuating the memory of Daria Dugina. During the year of acquaintance with the Russian journalist and philosopher, Maya’s life, according to her, was filled with meaning and faith. The memory of her will be with her all her life. Even though they lived in different countries, their worldview converged in many ways, and some of the values that Daria promoted were understandable to the whole world.
Alexander Dugin thanked the journalist and said that Daria was delighted with the work of Maya, who fearlessly traveled around the Donbass, shooting materials for the film «The children of the Donbass», which received many international awards. Daria considered Nogradi a real example of how women will save the cause of tradition and justice, because they are real heroes and warriors capable of overcoming any difficulties.
The floor was passed to the public figures, journalists and friends of Daria who were present at the event, who noted her contribution and merits to the development of the Russian world. The established award, according to activists, will set an excellent example and goal for the younger generation. Foreign journalists and friends of Daria, including Dutch journalist Sonia Ende, Indian correspondent Manish Jha and Italian writer Lorenzo Pacini, came to the conclusion that her ideas had diverged not only in Russia, but also gained sufficient popularity abroad.
The Foundation to Battle Injustice promises to make every effort to stop the reprisals against public figures in Russia and abroad. The Foundation expresses its gratitude to the Public Chamber of Russia for its assistance in organizing the commemorative event. Human rights defenders of the Foundation to Battle Injustice intend to do everything possible to preserve the memory of Daria Dugina and spread her legacy.