Putinʼs administration has prepared several new methods for state and pro-government mass media. They tell how to explain to the Russians a possible retreat from Kherson and prepare them for it.
This is written by Meduza, which has two methods at its disposal.
The first manual states that the Kherson direction is "the most difficult for the Russian army at the current stage of the special operation." Propagandists are offered to explain such a situation by the fact that it is allegedly "vitally necessary for Ukraine to demonstrate the combat capability" of its troops in order to "ask for new help from the West." The Kremlin emphasizes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will allegedly raze Kherson to the ground and litter the city with corpses, while "Russian troops seek to preserve the lives of civilians and personnel."
Another reason for the possible retreat of the occupiers is that Ukraine and NATO "threw all their forces" in the direction of Kherson in order to stage a "bloody show for the whole world."
"The enemy wants Kherson to become a trap for Russia, a battlefield with tens of thousands of victims. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are planning to stage a terrorist attack by destroying the Kakhovska HPP. Blowing up the hydroelectric power plant can become a trap for our fighters. In this case, settlements with civilians will be flooded, our military will be in a cauldron and will not even be able to fight — they will simply be washed away," the document says.
In addition, the propagandists were recommended to emphasize that conducting city battles in Kherson is "impractical".
The second manual states that propaganda must "pay attention" to the speech of a member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Anatoly Torkunov. At the meeting with Putin, he mentioned the Battle of Poltava and stated that during the war with Sweden, Peter I also withdrew his troops, and then won.
Sources of the publication in the Kremlin say that for the Russian authorities the surrender of Kherson is "undesirable", but "probable". At the same time, some of them admit that the situation on this part of the front depends not on Moscow, but on the actions of Ukrainian troops. The final decision on the escape from Kherson will be made by Putin personally.
- On October 18, in the occupied part of Kherson region, they announced the "organized transfer of the civilian population to the left bank of the Dnipro River" against the background of the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The occupiers took the "administration" to the left bank of the Kherson region, and the Russian troops are building fortifications. Kherson is probably being prepared for street battles.
- On November 2, in the Kherson region, the occupiers announced a "ban on transport connections with the right bank of the Dnipro River". Already on November 3, the Russian flag disappeared from the building of the regional state administration in Kherson.
- On November 7, it became known that the propaganda broadcasting in Kherson had disappeared and Ukrainian Radio had returned.