In a small car park in the Russian-occupied city of Kherson, there was a smattering of applause last week as Anton Alikhanov cut a red ribbon to mark the ceremonial opening of a local television station, Tavriya TV.
The new channel is part of a propaganda drive in Kherson that Russia hopes will help cement its hold over the southern Ukrainian city, occupied in the first days of the invasion. Alikhanov, the governor of Russia’s Kaliningrad region, said journalists from his city would come to Kherson to “help” the new channel find the right message. The Kremlin has appointed various Russian regions to “curate” different parts of occupied Ukraine.
