Leaked dossiers, co-written by Vladimir Putin's chief propagandist, reveal an insight into Moscow's "heavy artillery" brainwashing techniques.
Daria Lantratova leads the Kremlin's propaganda campaign during its invasion of Ukraine.
The 37-year-old is in charge of manipulating public opinion and changing the narrative around what has been a stuttering and so far unsuccessful war for Russia.
She is called the "heavy artillery" of Putin's propaganda machine, and leaked documents have revealed how Russia is trying to counter the increasing on the ground failures of the invasion.
The manual shows how Russia conducts its information war to "manipulate the mood of Russias, to calm the people" as well as creating a sense of patriotism, The Dossier Centre has said, which received the leak.
Lantratova said that Russia needed to pump out "more positive information about the course of the [military] operation".
She added that this must include "examples of heroism, fighting spirit, unity of the military, correct and professional working methods, assistance to refugees and civilians”.
Her propaganda playbook highlighted the lies and manipulative messages Moscow had been pushing in order to justify its invasion of Ukraine.
This included claims such as "Ukraine was preparing to attack the Donbas", "the population of Ukraine was used for psychological experiments by the Americans as guinea pigs” and “Russia launched a special operation just in time, protecting the Donbas and its future” .
On top of this, it stressed the need to paint the "backbone of the armed forces of Ukraine” as “radical nationalists, foreign mercenaries and recidivist criminals”.
It also sort to allege that Volodymyr Zelensky's government had "released tens of thousands of prisoners from prisons, including those convicted of especially serious crimes (murderers, rapists, members of organised crime groups, etc)”.
And that they “issued them weapons under the obligation to participate in hostilities" against the Russian troops.
The playbook is not just for use within government, but for state media and loyal social media influencers, who were ordered to contrast "good" Russian soldiers with "bad" Ukrainian forces.
A picture to illustrate this shows a Ukrainian serviceman hiding behind a pram - while the Russian stands in front .
"That's the difference”, says the caption.
Lantratova also advocated for the pro-war Z-slogan which has been painted on tanks and other Russian military vehicles, she called for it as a litmus test of patriotism.
The training manual was dated March 12, and called for swaying public opinion in five key areas.
These are: “Protecting Russia and the Donbas, supporting Putin and the army’s operations, winning the information war, reversing the negative impact of sanctions, and countering anti-war protests.”
They want Putin to be seen thanking Russians who welcome refugees from the separatist Donbas area.
His message should be: "The support of the Russians suggests that the decision to carry out the operation was made correctly.”
She says: “It is necessary to support the heroic images of Russian military personnel risking their lives for the sake of Russia’s security and the establishment of peace in the Donbas.”
The dossier stressed that to spin the sanctions into a good-news story, they should focus on Russian producers filling the gaps left in the market.
Camembert and Brie would be replaced by products of Bashkir cheese makers, it claimed and Stavropol fashion designers were ready to replace synthetic foreign brands with domestic clothing made from natural fabrics.
Also financial companies like Visa and Mastercard pulling out meant that the west could no longer send money to Putin's critics to undermine the Kremlin.
“By their decision, Visa and Mastercard help the Russian political system to get rid of such "critics" who play under the dictation of the West. A small but typical example of the stupidity and inconsistency of sanctions.” she added.
She claimed that Putin's critics would no longer be able to receive funds to resource their attempts to undermine the Kremlin.
She demanded that positive stories were broadcast to Russians, which included Russian manufacturers from Karelia supposedly taking the place of Coca-Cola.
It also ordered all officials to remain upbeat and optimistic on their social media.
Lantratova was a civil servant before she switched to the main pro-Putin political party United Russia and she stopped using Facebook in 2014 with the message: “Putin's friends do not have accounts abroad.”
Her co-author is Andrei Gribanov, who has almost no trace in public sources.
The Dossier Center is supported by exiled Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was jailed for a decade by Russian courts on “political charges”.
