The Kremlin is considering a scenario of creating a quasi-formation in the Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian army under the name "Southern Russia".
This is stated in the investigation of the project "Skhemy".
Journalists received a document entitled "Manifesto of the South Russian Peopleʼs Council". Journalists analyzed this document and identified those involved in the development of such a scenario among the leadership of the ruling party in Russia "United Russia" (Putinʼs party). The date of creation of the "manifesto" is April 16. In April, he was sent to each other in the ruling circles of the Russian Federation.
The document begins with explanations that the state of Ukraine after the overthrow of the "legitimately elected president" in 2014 "lost legitimacy within the borders of the USSR". It is further emphasized that the so-called "Southern Russia" is the "heir of Kievan Novgorod Russia, the Zaporozhian Sich", the so-called "New Russia of Catherine the Great" and the USSR.
Orthodoxy is called the "foundation of culture and identity", while the Ukrainian language is called the "dialect". The main goal of the so-called "Southern Russia" the authors call "the achievement and protection of peace", "complete eradication of Nazism and Bandera". They also announce a "nationwide referendum".
At the same time, the document does not specify in which territories of Ukraine "Southern Russia" should appear.
The metadata of the document helped to identify the probable author. The organization that owns the computer on which the file was created is the United Russia party. The author of the document is Roman Romanov. A person with this name is the Deputy Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of United Russia.
Sources of "Skhemy" reported that this "manifesto" passed from hand to hand. Initially, it was received by the first deputy chairman of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Secretary of the General Council of "United Russia" Andrey Turchak. Later, according to journalists, Turchak handed over this document to another "United Russia" Dmitry Gryzlov, an aide to the sanctioned Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, who is called a "sponsor of the war in Donbas."