They met at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum as smoke from Ukrainian drone attacks rose across the city.
Forum setting: oligarchs, far-right visitors, and a nearby oil terminal strike
The Putin-backed St. Petersburg International Economic Forum took place on Wednesday against a backdrop of billowing smoke from a Ukrainian drone attack at a nearby oil terminal. The event featured presentations by Russian oligarchs and elites and attracted high-ranking Russian officials, representatives of far-right European groups, and American internet influencers. At least one U.S. official attended: Rodney Mims Cook Jr., who, the source reports, chairs the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and is in charge of the White House ballroom makeover.
Konstantin Malofeev and Alexander Dugin: explicit nuclear wishcasting
Two prominent figures—Konstantin Malofeev, the billionaire founder of the Tsargrad TV channel, and Alexander Dugin, described as a key philosophical influence on the Russian leader—used their forum presentation to advance scenarios that include the possible use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. “Yes,” Malofeev said later on his Telegram channel. “The use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine is considered a good-case scenario in our analytical report.”
They argued broadly that the United States is an “existential threat to Russia that must be weakened,” a line the source ties to prior thinking attributed to Yevgeny Primakov and says “is believed to echo Putin’s own thinking.” Their forecast lays out a “good” scenario for Russia by 2036 that includes a “crisis of American-centrism,” and by 2050 they foresee the “demise of the imperialistic plans of Western countries.”
Admissions of battlefield limits: Andrey Bezrukov on drones and duration
At the same forum, Andrey Bezrukov, a former spy whose double life in the United States inspired the television show “The Americans,” acknowledged operational shortfalls and longer war horizons. “The war will last ‘for decades,’” the source quotes Bezrukov saying. He warned of a specific tactical vulnerability: “Even now we understand that a drone using Starlink can fly into any region and hit a specific target. This is a serious problem for us. We were not prepared for it.”
The account emphasizes that Russian leaders and elites present at the forum conceded no easy victory is in sight.
Kirill Dmitriev’s economic claims and a Bering Strait tunnel announcement
Kirill Dmitriev, who runs a Russian sovereign-wealth fund, used the forum to tout “strong Russian economic cooperation” between the United States and Russia. Dmitriev claimed that he had just spoken with White House envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and appeared to suggest the governments would announce a Bering Strait tunnel project on Friday. He later tweeted that he was speaking only of an engineering contract award. The White House has not responded to questions about the claim.
What this means for the Kremlin, U.S. policymakers, and international investors
- The Kremlin: The forum record shows a mix of ultra-nationalist scenarios and public acknowledgement of battlefield constraints. The Institute for the Study of War, the source reports, called Malofeev’s scenarios “unrealistic,” and suggested the Kremlin may use extreme scenarios “to portray its own and ‘other government officials’ rhetoric as moderate and reasonable in comparison to the extreme scenarios presented by a small cadre of ultranationalists.”
- U.S. policymakers: On the same day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “Russia will definitely not be able to achieve the objectives it set for itself on the first day of the war; and it will likely not even be able to enforce—by military means—the demands it is currently making in negotiations.” Rubio also said he had no knowledge of any high-ranking officials attending the forum.
- International investors and project partners: Dmitriev’s public reference to contacts with White House envoys and a high-profile infrastructure claim—followed by a clarification about an engineering contract—underscores how economic messaging at the forum can be used to seek foreign partners or validate deals. The White House’s lack of response to inquiries about the claim leaves the matter publicly unresolved.
NATO and historical echoes
The source places the forum’s rhetoric in a broader pattern of public threats and drills: it recalls a 2017 statement by Russian parliamentarian Vyacheslav Alekseyevich Nikonov, who said that if NATO or U.S. forces were to go to Crimea, the Kremlin would be forced to use smaller nuclear weapons. It also notes that in May Russia held drills for its nuclear forces in Belarus, a move that prompted NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to say, “Well, [Russia] knows if that happens, the reaction is devastating.” The source further observes that after long-range Ukrainian strikes devastated the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, the Kremlin responded with drone and missile strikes—but not nuclear weapons.
The St. Petersburg forum therefore offered a stark contrast: public talk of nuclear options and long-term geopolitical triumphs coupled with candid admissions of technological and tactical vulnerability, and aggressive economic outreach that remains publicly unverifiable. Whether the rhetoric will translate into policy choices, military action, or dealmaking on the ground was not settled by the record presented at the forum.
Source: Defense One — Putin allies wishcast nuclear war, America in crisis, and real-estate deals
