Kremlin ideologues have reviewed the playbook for the Russian state media and pro-government bloggers on how to cover a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. It is suggested that they compare the bloody groundless war against the neighboring state with the Battle of Neva and the baptism of Rus.
Meduza reports that at least two such manuals for the media hold theses that these three events are allegedly very similar in nature. The manuals were released in July by the Russian President’s Administration.
Traditionally accusing the “collective West” of provoking the invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin also points out that it is the Western powers that have been “attacking Russia for almost a thousand years” in order to divide it and seize the country’s resources, as well as to destroy the Orthodox faith.
Here, perhaps for the first time, it is explained what the “collective West” is and why, from the Kremlin’s perspective, it needs Russia to be destroyed. According to the Russian authorities, at various times the “collective West,” was represented by the Teutonic Order, Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Napoleonic Empire, the Third Reich, and now NATO.
However, according to the manual, attacks on Russia end with “public rallying around the national leader” and a successful repulse of the invaders.
As a leader, these theses on medieval Russia refer to the Novgorod prince, Alexander Nevsky, who ruled in the middle of 13th century. One of the chapters of the manual is called “Strength lies in truth!” which the quote attributed to Nevsky.
“There was truth behind the Russian soldiers – they were defending their home, and therefore the victory could not but be ours,” write the authors of the manual. The journalists do not specify who Nevsky’s modern-time projection is, but from the context it can be assumed that it is about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Another document states that the base for the strengthening and unity of the Russian state for centuries to come was the baptism of Rus.
“The Orthodox faith teaches compassion, love for one’s neighbor, and tolerance for others. These values became the basis of Russian civilization and allowed Russia to unite hundreds of nations,” the preamble of the text says.
One of the goals of the war against Ukraine, as declared in the document, is the “fight against the godless,” as the Kremlin suggests branding the Ukrainian military. The propagandists were asked to report that they “commit ritual murders.”
Separate publications carrying such a message have already appeared on propaganda platforms. For example, RIA Novosti in early June published an article entitled “Goat’s Face. Satanism and occultism have become an ideology of Ukrainian Nationalists.”
According to two anonymous sources close to the Russian President’s Administration, the Kremlin is now trying to find models that could explain to the Russians the reasons and goals behind the large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Propaganda arguments should lead the audience to the conclusion that the Russian invasion was a “pre-emptive strike.” This thesis has already been used by the pro-government media and Putin himself.
Then the document states: like the baptism of Rus, the war in Ukraine lays the “state foundations” of the aggressor power — as well as “the foundations of Russia’s development for centuries to come.” Russian propagandists assure that this is happening thanks to “public solidarity” around the army and Putin’s “strategic course.” “Russia has again become capable of fulfilling its mission of protecting the oppressed,” the manual states.
In the clauses about the “special operation,” which is how Russia names the large-scale war on Ukraine, nothing is said about defending own home, but it is mentioned that Russian soldiers are also “confident in their rightness, because they are continuing the work of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers – finishing off Nazism.”
It is possible that similar documents with instructions will appear in the future: “The threat of the collective West can be found everywhere.”
