Vladimir Putin' s troops have been told by their commanders to shoot "looters", the Ukrainian Dad's Army and pet dogs, it has been claimed.
However, Russian soldiers have also been ordered to avoid using language such as “killed, liquidated, [and] shot” when speaking with locals, according to an “invader’s manual” allegedly seized from troops.
The disturbing manual goes on to explain that such descriptions have an "impact on local residents negatively" and should not be used.
Troops were allegedly instructed to say "the problem has been solved" if they kill a resident they think is a looter or member of the “territorial defence".
The dossier, which has come into Ukrainian hands, has also suggested that such people, and also “house dogs”, are legitimate targets to be shot dead.
If asked “what are you doing here?” by locals, they should reply: “We’re on a humanitarian mission. We’ve brought food because your authorities dumped you.
“Where is your administration? Where are the police?”
Russians should avoid mentioning to locals that they have shelled their communities.
It states: "Don’t explain that people in Donbas are getting shelled - local residents don’t take it well, don’t understand it."
Russian soldiers are taught: “By answering with a question to a question, you pass the ball to the person you speak to, and make this person answer.”
If asked by fearful Ukrainians: “Why do you carry weapons? We are scared…” the Russian army manual says they should reply: “Don’t be afraid. We are temporarily replacing your police because they ran away.
"There are looters and criminals, released by Zelensky.”
They are instructed never to use the word “war”.
Soldiers are further told: "Don’t answer questions about war.
“The key task is to seed the thought that the Ukrainian authorities are weak, that they escaped and left their people without money, food and pensions.”
If challenged that locals have no electricity because the Russians bombed their power stations, the servicemen should answer: “It’s a lot more likely that it was your police and retreating troops who did it, which shows that they don’t care about you.”
Or they could lie that the power was “switched off on Zelensky’s orders”.
If asked who they are, they should say: “We are both Russians and Ukrainians, but the main thing is we are Orthodox, and we’ve got nothing to divide….
“If they start arguing, use examples of gay parades, bio-laboratories, attacks on Christianity”.
But they should not say: “Yes, we are Russian!“
The invaders are told: “It’s inappropriate because nine years of propaganda has equated the image of a Russian to an attacker while the image of an Orthodox person is still clear.”
They are told not to “blame Ukrainians” but instead to claim the cause of their problems is Zelensky or his predecessor Petro Poroshenko and their Western “puppet masters”.
They should tell Ukrainians that after the Russian arrival “everything will be in order”.
The document purports to be from the Russian army, headed by defence minister Sergei Shoigu - a close Putin ally - and chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov.
