Posted on 05/02/2023 10:16:51 PM PDT by familyop
The Ukrainian military is widely expected to launch its spring counteroffensive any day now, though what approach it will take and how the situation will unfold is anyone’s guess. According to Zelensky administration adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, Moscow’s anxiety surrounding the war’s next stage is one reason the Russian army has increasingly launched missiles at civilian targets in recent days: the sooner Ukraine can be provoked into starting the offensive, the less prepared it will be. New guidelines sent by the Putin administration to Russia’s pro-government media outlets and obtained by Meduza confirm that the Kremlin is preparing for multiple scenarios. Meduza explains how the Russian authorities plan to use their propaganda apparatus to prepare citizens for what’s to come.
Meduza has obtained a copy of new guidelines compiled by the Putin administration for Russia’s propaganda media. Among other things, it includes the Kremlin’s instructions for how pro-government news outlets should report on Ukraine’s anticipated counteroffensive.
In the document, the Russian authorities tell reporters “not to downplay expectations for the NATO-supported counteroffensive that Ukraine has announced,” and not to assert that “Kyiv is unprepared for a ‘counteroffensive.’” On the contrary, says the guide, pro-Kremlin outlets should emphasize that Western countries are providing Kyiv with weapons and supporting Ukraine in various other ways.
Two sources close to the Putin administration told Meduza that there’s a simple explanation for why Moscow wants this kind of coverage:
If the offensive is a failure, [the Russian authorities] will be able to say that [Russia’s] army adeptly repelled an extremely powerful attack. The value of this victory will increase significantly.If Ukraine, with the help of weapons from the U.S. and Europe, is successful and takes territory, the loss will be explainable, too; after all, the West has focused a tremendous amount of effort on the front, but its successes — when compared to those efforts — have been very modest. In other words, overall, the Russian army has held its own.
In the document, the Kremlin “advises” propagandists “not to focus on the amount of money” allocated from the Russian budget to rebuild infrastructure in the occupied and annexed Ukrainian territories. It’s unclear exactly how much money Russia has spent on these efforts, though the total is likely more than one trillion rubles ($12.5 billion); in the first quarter of 2023 alone, the country’s budget deficit amounted to 2.4 trillion rubles ($30 billion).
Instead, the guide urges the media to talk about how “problems are being solved” in Russia, such as by reporting on repairs in schools, kindergartens, and hospitals. According to the document, the Kremlin is confident that these are the kinds of segments that garner “public approval.”
“It’s clear that there will be [economic] problems, and it’s clear what will cause them. The expenditures on the ‘special military operation’ aren’t going anywhere. First and foremost, they’ll cut spending on the very same infrastructure [whose repairs they told the media to highlight]; they’ll be repairing things in the new regions while ignoring needs in the old ones. The reaction [among residents of Russia’s regions] is understandable: something was taken from us. Better not to show the specific amounts of money that were taken. That already happened with Crimea,” said one of Meduza’s sources close to the Putin administration.
This source’s account is consistent with data from a 2017 survey of Russians conducted by the independent Levada Center. At that time, a significant share of respondents (41 percent) said that investments in Crimea from Russia’s federal budget were being made “at the expense of spending on education, health care, science, wage indexation, and pensions.” More than half (55 percent) of respondents said that the Russian authorities were wrong to allocate money to Crimea that would otherwise have gone to social programs in Russia’s regions. Moreover, a poll from the state-owned Russian Public Opinion Research Center that year found that 84 percent of the public opposed additional financing for Crimea.
Another topic the guide discourages the pro-Kremlin media from covering is the rehearsals for Russia’s May 9 Victory Day parade. Some regions have opted to forego the holiday entirely “on security grounds.” Additionally, Moscow and multiple other cities plan not to hold their traditional “Immortal Regiment” processions (where people march with portraits of their ancestors who were somehow involved in Russia’s past wars). Meduza’s sources close to the Kremlin declined to comment on the reason for this decision.
One political scientist who works with the Russian authorities told Meduza that the changes aren’t due solely to safety concerns. In all likelihood, he said, this year’s parade will involve less military equipment than in past years, and the equipment that is featured will likely be outdated: “The modern vehicles are most likely needed at the front.”
Meduza cannot independently confirm these explanations, but the Kremlin’s guide does indeed “recommend” that the pro-government media “not play up” the topic of the authorities’ Victory Day preparations.
Zelensky still wants another billion from us? Hope he gets a missile down his grill. Quit stealing from America you sh*thead.
“looming counteroffensive”
Ooooh. “Looming”! Sounds serious! ROFL
Another word might be “maybe”. IF they are able to grift enough supplies from willing left-leaning nations.
If it happens, it will be the worst kept secret in the history of warfare.
“Meduza has obtained a copy of new guidelines…”
Why don’t they show a picture of the guidelines? If I had something like that I’d take a picture to include with the story. Maybe this is just made up propaganda, eh?
U.S. state media and Ukraine state media are mo better than Russian state media when it comes to doing this and hedging bets, so no surprise.
If Ukraine succeeds?
1/5:
Going back 5 months until now:
New York Times
U.S. and NATO Scramble to Arm Ukraine and Refill Their Own Arsenals
“...Smaller countries have exhausted their potential, another NATO official said, with 20 of its 30 members “pretty tapped out.” ...”
2/5 And according to very recent statements by Zelensky, it’s worse now:
In a recent interview with Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun he declared that “We do not have ammunition. For us the situation in the East is not good.”
3/5 Zelensky’s admission adds credence to what the Washington Post recently reported regarding how poorly Kyiv’s forces are faring in this conflict, especially its “severe ammunition shortages” that one of its sources spoke about.
4/5: Now the BBC, along with the New York Times (below), has become pro-Putin, for if you report information like this you must obviously be pro-Putin as several Freepers have claimed.
Ukrainian soldiers admit Russia ‘can’t be defeated with West arms...’ | Report
A shocking admission by Ukrainian troops fighting Russia on the ground has come up. Ukrainian troops on the frontline say that western arms may not be enough to defeat Russia, according to a report by the New York Times. The Ukrainian fighters also expressed their surprise at the amount of artillery, tanks, helicopters, and jets Russia has deployed on the battlefield. The admission comes at a time when Ukraine is already facing embarrassment after its much-hyped spring offensive was delayed.
...
Hindustan Times reports on what the Times reported:
5/5: Italy sent over junk artillery and Pakistan sent over junk artillery shells.
*no better
Ooooh. “Looming”! Sounds serious! ROFL
How about "impending counteroffensive?" That more to your liking?
Regards,
Actually, the storming of Hitler's bunker and the dropping of the second A-Bomb (on Nagasaki) may qualify as the worst-kept secrets in the history of warfare.
But what of it?
Regards,
How can Ukraine succeed when the media keeps telling the world about the ‘upcoming counter-offensive’
I expect they will broadcast troop positioning for ‘the upcoming counter-offensive’
And then reveal the planned start date of ‘the upcoming counter-offensive’
Then blame Donald Trump, when Russia is there waiting for them.
If Ukr is going to attack in the spring at all it should be soon.
Next 14 days forecast shows the heaviest rain will be .16 of an inch with many dry, sunny days.
Yeah, this is about as foolish as what the Allies did in 1944, with Operation Fortitude - led by Gen. Patton.
They practically sent a love-letter to Hitler, exactly informing him of what the Allies intended to do on D-Day, in Calais.
What idiots!
Regards,
A VIEW FROM THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS
As Mark Wauck summarizes “Ukraine’s professional military knows that the offensive would be suicidal. Ukrainian losses of manpower continue to be extremely heavy—Russia is claiming that Ukraine lost 15,000 men in April. Losses of equipment are reaching catastrophic levels as well, as Russian attacks have heavily targeted assembly areas for munitions and equipment.”
If Zelensky’s cowardice allows America’s foreign policy neocon scum to push Ukraine into a doomed offensive, it will be the most wasted effusion of blood yet in this catastrophic “proxy war.” And it will be the most disgraceful ending possible to the Neocon’s 30 years “forever war” that dropped the United States from a half century illusion of dominant hegemony to an also ran with an obsolete defense establishment and a wrecked economy, all in less than 2 years..
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