The Kremlin sent propagandists of Russian television and newspapers a set of specific instructions on how to talk about the martial law imposed by Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, writes Meduza.
Journalists at the investigative website, which has been banned by Russian authorities since March, say they have obtained a copy of the document, which is effectively a “manual” on what to tell Russian viewers and readers about martial law.
The new “recommendations” begin with a key moment:
“It is important to reassure the public – nothing significant has changed!”
In support of this thesis, the propagandists must claim that martial law was declared “only in four territories” (that is, in the annexed Ukrainian territories) and that it was still introduced there before unification with Russia, or that it represented the “status quo » things.
The document also recommends that restrictions imposed in other regions be explained by concerns about “protecting essential infrastructure”.
The Kremlin compares the declaration of martial law to the COVID-19 pandemic
The Kremlin tentatively “advises” propagandists to draw a parallel between the introduction of martial law announced on Wednesday and the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Then, as now, Russian governors received additional powers, and at the federal level, Prime Minister Mykhailo Mishustin and Moscow Mayor Serhii Sobyanin coordinated activities.
In the text prepared by President Putin’s Administration, propagandists are “recommended” to emphasize that officials will now be engaged in “mobilizing industry, orienting the economy to work under the leadership of the military and taking measures to support the mobilized and their families.”
“Let the experience of fighting the coronavirus be used, when everything changed quickly,” the authors of the document emphasize.
Russian propagandists, like Putin himself, have consistently claimed that Russia has handled the COVID-19 pandemic very effectively, despite the high death toll.
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Source: Hot News RU
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