Kremlin propaganda message on anniversary of Baptism of Kyivan Rus denounces "Nazi Satanists" and glorifies Putin "the saviour"

The Administration of the President of the Russian Federation has issued guidelines for Russian state and pro-government media on covering the anniversary of the Baptism of the Kyivan Rus, which Russia celebrates on 28 July.

Source: Meduza, a Latvian-based Russian media outlet

Details: Meduza journalists saw the guidelines that outline exactly how Russian media should cover the anniversary of the Baptism of the Kyivan Rus, which Russia will celebrate on 28 July.

The guidelines say that the event should be described as a "pivotal point in Russian history" and the "moment when Russian statehood was formed". Russian propaganda is expected to stress that it was the "shared faith" that allowed "eastern Slavic tribes" to unite, becoming a "single people".

The guidelines also focus on "Russia’s opponents", who allegedly fought the Orthodox faith in Ukraine, Belarus and Poland.

For example, the guidelines claim that "Polish kings imposed Catholicism and Uniate on historically Russian territories that were occupied [by the Poles] in order to divide and subjugate the people."

Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced similar territorial claims on Poland: "It is thanks to the Soviet Union and Stalin’s position that Poland got a substantial amount of land in the West, Germany’s land. That’s right, modern Poland’s western territories were Stalin’s gift to the Poles. Have our friends in Warsaw forgotten this? We’ll remind them." Meanwhile, Putin chose to overlook the fact that the USSR joined Germany in attacking Poland in 1939.

The Kremlin’s guidelines are even more aggressive when it comes to Ukraine, calling the current government a "faithless regime" fighting against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (of the Moscow Patriarchate, UOC-MP) to "destroy spiritual connections between brotherly nations". At the same time, the text elides the fact that a recent Russian attack on Odesa nearly destroyed the city’s Transfiguration Cathedral.

Quote from the Kremlin’s guidelines: "Today our country is fighting the new Satanic regime. The Kyiv regime is deliberately destroying the Orthodox faith in Ukraine by putting pressure on priests and taking away churches.

Nationalist Satanists have consolidated in the holy Russian city of Kyiv, where Rus was baptised. Russia has stood up to defend the Orthodox faith and is crushing Neo-Nazis who worship Hitler’s and Bandera’s occult ideas on the battlefield." [Stepan Bandera, 1909-1959, was the leader of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists and is a frequent target of Russian propaganda - ed.]

Details: The guidelines want Russians to believe that Putin "reinstated Russia as the defender of the Orthodox faith".

Putin is said to have "supported the renaissance of the Orthodox faith" and the "restoration of [Russian] churches".

A source close to the Kremlin told Meduza that this is not a coincidence and that mentions of Putin in Russian propaganda will become more frequent as the 2024 Russian presidential elections draw nearer.

Quote from a source close to the Kremlin: "They need this for the election campaign. The president will be associated with every event. His name has to be heard."

Previously: In May, the Kremlin issued another set of guidelines, instructing Russian media on how to prepare Russians for the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

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