Russian propagandists are told how to explain "martial law" in country: as if nothing changed

STANISLAV POHORILOV – THURSDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2022, 13:34

State-owned and pro-government Russian news agencies have received another guide from the Kremlin on how to explain the declaration of "martial law" in the occupied Ukrainian territories.

Source: Latvia-based Russian media outlet Meduza

Quote:  "New ‘recommendations’ start with a key guideline for propaganda: ‘It is important to reassure the audience – nothing significant has changed!’"

Details: The Administration of the President of the Russian Federation stated that to confirm this thesis, propagandists should say that "martial law" has been declared "only in four territories" occupied by Russia, where it was either already introduced before "joining Russia" or "acted according to the actual state of affairs".

Restrictions introduced in other regions should be explained by concern for the "protection of critical infrastructure".

The Kremlin "advises" propagandists to draw a parallel between the declaration of "martial law" and the Russian experience in the fight against Covid.

Propagandists are also "recommended" to emphasise that now officials will "mobilise industry, orient the economy to work for the army’s needs, and take measures to support the mobilised and their families".

Separately, the Kremlin’s guide states that this will be accompanied by a "reduction of bureaucracy".

Background: On 19 October, Vladimir Putin announced the decision to introduce martial law in the annexed parts of Ukrainian oblasts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk.

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