Putin prepares Russians for defeat in leaked crisis manual
After spending the last year reassuring the Russians that victory is inevitable the war against UkraineThe Kremlin is now working feverishly to lower expectations – and is putting in place a contingency plan to lessen the impact of a humiliating defeat.
A new handbook created and distributed to the Russian Presidential Administration Kremlin’s army of propagandists contains some surprising instructions: Don’t “underestimate” The upcoming counteroffensive of Ukraine and don’t spread the idea that Kiev is somehow “not ready” for it.
This is reported by the independent news agency Medusasaying that she received a new copy of the manual and spoke to sources close to the Kremlin about it.
“If the offensive is unsuccessful, one can say: the army [of Russia] skillfully fended off a superior attack,” which makes the “victory” all the more impressive, the sources said.
But perhaps more importantly, the sources explained, if the Ukrainian military manages to retake territory and achieve battlefield victories “with the help of weapons from the US and Europe,” Russia’s losses will be understandable – after all, they were up against the “whole West.” “
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In that case, the sources said, the Russian military would also be considered “done.”
And just in case Russian citizens are wondering about the colossal amount of money the government is funneling into the same Ukrainian territories it decimated before declaring them “parts of Russia,” propagandists should avoid the topic.
Instead, the Kremlin’s spin doctors want their mouthpieces to churn out material about Russia modernizing schools and kindergartens or hospitals.
“It is clear that there will be problems with the economy and it is clear why. Spending on the ‘special military operation’ is going nowhere,” said a source close to the presidential administration, noting that funds would go to the “new regions” rather than the old, and people would inevitably feel neglected. “It is better not to state in specific quantities how much was taken [for the new regions].”
The Kremlin’s new policies are a stunning reversal from a year ago, when propagandists were still promoting the idea that Russia would soon be reborn as a powerful superpower that would take control of vast chunks of Ukraine.
At that time, war was still a distant reality for many Russians – unlike today, when even residents in St. Petersburg and Moscow are nervous about drone attacks and sometimes even bomb attacks.”Ukrainian pigeons.”
Security concerns have been cited as the reason behind the cancellation of Russia’s beloved Victory Day celebrations in some cities on May 9.
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“There will be no parade so as not to provoke the enemy with a large concentration of equipment and military personnel in the center of Belgorod,” the governor of the border region said last month.
Even in Moscow, the country’s biggest Victory Day Parade this year will do without the traditional procession of the Immortal Regiment, which sees thousands marching with portraits of their loved ones who fell in battle in World War II. Authorities reportedly feared that some people might emerge with portraits of troops killed in Ukraine, inadvertently drawing attention to the staggering casualties there.
The Kremlin reportedly instructed its propagandists not to “fake” preparations for the parade.
And Moscow officials are also on high alert for possible embarrassing disruptions to the parade: According to Sota, utility workers have been ordered to patrol the city ahead of the event in search of bombs or drones.
The move comes after a Ukrainian banker publicly offered 20 million hryvnia (about $545,000) to anyone who can design a drone — ideally with the inscription “Honour to Ukraine!” — to fly in the middle of the parade on the Red place in Moscow will land.
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