The Kremlin has prepared several new instructions for Russian propagandists, two of which are aimed at preparing the population for the loss of the strategic city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, Meduza reports, citing several sources close to the presidential administration in Moscow.

One of the documents states that the Kherson direction is “the most difficult for the Russian army at the current stage of the special operation”, and propagandists are asked to explain this by the fact that “it is vitally important for Ukraine to demonstrate the fighting ability of its terrorist units to demand new help from the West”.

Propagandists are also ordered to convey to the Russians that Kyiv is willing to ignore its own losses in this offensive for new tranches of military aid, and that Russian forces are committed to saving civilian and military lives.

As another reason for the possible withdrawal from Kherson, the training manual states that Ukraine and the NATO countries have “thrown all their forces” on this particular direction of the front, which threatens with “huge bloodshed” and that the enemy wants Kherson to become a trap for Russia, a battlefield with tens of thousands of victims.

The document also claims that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are planning to stage a terrorist attack in the Kherson region by destroying the Kakhovskaya HPP, and that undermining the HPP “could become a trap for our militants.”

The propagandists are told that in this case, peaceful settlements will be flooded, and the Russian military will be in a cauldron and will not even be able to fight, but will simply be swept away.

Russian propagandists call to remember the historical precedent

Moscow propagandists advised to point out that urban battles in Kherson are “inappropriate”, since “they are always the most difficult and destructive”.

In the second training manual, prepared by the Kremlin, it is said, in particular, that state propaganda should “pay attention” to the speech of Russian diplomat, historian and political scientist Anatoly Torkunov, a member of the Scientific Council of the Security Council of Russia.

At Putin’s meeting with historians, Torkunov recalled the Battle of Poltava in 1709, saying that before the Russian victory, Emperor Peter the First retreated to Poltava, and that it was the retreat that ultimately led to the “turning point in the war.” “.

Two Meduza sources say that Russian authorities are now considering withdrawal from Kherson as “an undesirable but ‘probable’ scenario.”

In the past, senior Russian officials have said several times that “Russia will be forever” in the territories that Vladimir Putin announced he was annexing in late September.

“I want to say once again, addressing the residents of Kherson region, that Russia is here forever. There should be no doubt about that. There will be no return to the past. We will live together,” said Andrii Turchak, secretary of Putin-led United Russia.

Putin will personally give the order to withdraw from Kherson

It was Turchak who first officially proposed on September 9 the annexation of the occupied Ukrainian territories by Russia after months of speculation and indecision regarding this measure.

Interlocutors of “Meduza” journalists also note that the Moscow leadership now believes that the situation in Kherson no longer depends on the actions of the Russian army, but on the movement of the Ukrainian armed forces.

“If there is no massive offensive, then there will be no surrender,” explained one of them. “If it happens, it is very likely [ca Hersonul să fie pierdut]”, he adds.

Meduza’s sources also claim that the final decision to withdraw from Kherson, the only regional capital of Ukraine captured by the Russians after the invasion began on February 24, will have to be made personally by Putin with the participation of some of his staff. the “inner circle”, which after the start of the “special forces operation” began to consist mainly of high-ranking security forces.

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