"Undesirable but likely": Russia already has propaganda plan for Kherson withdrawal

Created: 11/08/2022 11:59 am

By: Momir Takac

President of Russia: Vladimir Putin in the Moscow Kremlin.

© IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

Vladimir Putin now appears to be considering withdrawing from Kherson.

But how should that be explained?

A propaganda plan is said to have been submitted to a Russian medium in exile.

Riga/Kherson – The Cherson region is still the focus of the Ukraine war.

There, Ukrainian troops and Russian soldiers have been fighting fiercely for supremacy for weeks.

The city of the same name on the Dnipro is still believed to have been taken by Vladimir Putin's troops, but the situation could change.

Apparently, Ukrainian forces are getting closer to their goal of recapturing Cherson.

Although the major offensive that Kyiv had long announced has not materialized so far, the military strength seems sufficient to persuade Moscow to do what war experts have long suspected: to consider a Russian withdrawal from Cherson.

Vladimir Putin: Withdrawal from Cherson is no longer taboo

The Kremlin seems to be preparing for this already.

That writes the Russian exile medium

based in Riga.

Accordingly, two sources close to the Kremlin are said to have stated that Russian authorities now see the surrender as an "undesirable but likely" scenario.

So far it has been said that Putin wants to hold Cherson at any price.

According to

, the Russian presidential administration is already working on selling the disgrace to Russian citizens in the best possible way.

According to this, manuals for propagandists are said to have already been prepared, which specify language regulations for the situation in Cherson.

Russia before Kherson retreat: Soldiers should be presented as saviors

For example, one document recommends portraying Russian armed forces as saviors.

In the face of the Ukrainian offensive, they tried to "save the lives of civilians and personnel," according to

.

The evacuations of the civilian population of Kherson are also explained with the “danger of a massive attack by a huge group of nationalists”.

Another explanation for a possible withdrawal: Ukraine and the NATO states had "joined all their strengths" in Cherson.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to "put on a bloody show for the whole world".

They wanted to prevent the threatening “enormous bloodshed”.

Further, the propagandists are advised to emphasize that urban battles in Kherson are "inappropriate" because "they are always the most difficult and destructive".

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Withdrawal from Kherson: Russian state propaganda should “respect” example from history

A second handbook advises state propaganda to "explicitly respect" a speech by Anatoly Torkunov.

At a meeting with Vladimir Putin, the diplomat and political scientist recalled that a withdrawal of Russian troops had once marked the "turning point in the war".

Torkunov led the Battle of Poltava in 1709, when Peter I and his troops defeated Charles XII's Russian campaign.

stopped and thus his attempt to conquer Moscow failed.

At that time, Torkunov explained, Peter I also “retired to Poltava” before the decisive battle.