Crisis in Ukraine Evacuation videos of separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine had already been filmed two days before the evacuation – This is known from the men who posted the videos

Eastern Ukraine leaders of separatist regimes announced the launch early Saturday. That means placing the armed forces in a state of war.

On Friday, the leaders of both the Donetsk and Luhansk “People’s Republics” Denis Pušilin and Leonid Pasechnik published serious videos on local Telegram channels. They said that the most vulnerable residents would be evacuated to Rostov on the Russian side. Men between the ages of 18 and 55 were barred from leaving.

Only hours after the release of the evacuation videos, the Bellingcat trainer, led by a team of researchers, foundthat the creation times of videos that contained evacuation regulations were found in the video metadata. The videos had already been filmed on Wednesday, February 16th.

The day is the same one for which unnamed sources in U.S. newspapers predicted an attack on Russia a little earlier in February. The development of the situation and the escalation of the crisis thus seem even more planned.

The observation about the time of video creation has been confirmed at least by the British broadcaster BBC and Radio Liberty. HS independently confirmed the finding from the metadata of Luhansk leader Pasethnik’s video.

For now it is impossible to judge whether the information about the shooting date was intentionally or accidentally left in the videos. The fact that Donetsk leader Denis Pušilin clearly says in the video “today, February 18” speaks in favor of the damage.

In the case of damage, the leaders of the “People’s Republics” look like actual reindeer herders. At least online searchers laughed at the digital skills of the men and their staffs.

Denis Pušilin and Leonid Pasechnik and their staffs would have had time to practice. Both men already have several years of experience leading separatist regimes.

What is known about all of them?

40 years old Denis Pušilin has held several leadership positions in the “People’s Republic” since the darkness of the history of the separatist regions. He became head of administration in 2018 after the previous head, an electrician Alexander Zakarchenko died in a bomb attack.

Pušilin is a businessman by background. Russian-language service of the British broadcaster BBC said in the summer of 2014 that he was involved in an investment scheme known as MMM, which was exposed as a pyramid scam. Pušilin was involved in the withdrawal from 2011 to 2013.

During his tenure in Donetsk, Pushilin has local sources attempted murder at least once. An assistant to Pušilin died in a shooting incident in June 2014.

When Russian-armed separatists fired a missile at a Malaysian Airlines passenger plane in July 2014, killing 298 people, Pushilin was the Speaker of the “People’s Republic” Parliament. The day after the crash, he resignation the role of the President.

In 2015, Pušilin represented the separatist regions in refining the Minsk agreement. He was then vice-chairman of the Donetsk “parliament”. The principals who led the “republics” at the time did not bother themselves.

Luhansk the head, in turn, is Leonid Pasechnik, 51, who rose to power in late 2017 with his predecessor Igor Plotnitskin left for Russia in unclear circumstances. Apparently Plotnitsky was ousted. Prior to this, Pasechnik served as Luhansk’s security minister.

Pasechnik is a lieutenant colonel in the SBU of the Security Service of Ukraine. When the “People’s Republics” declared their secession from the Ukrainian regime in the winter of 2014, Pasechnik changed sides. The following fall, he was made security minister in the separatist regime.

It is obvious that the “people’s republics” of eastern Ukraine would not exist at all without the extensive and diverse support of Russia. Even without solid evidence, it should be made clear that the real backwardness of the “people’s republics” is the Russian administration, and the reason for its existence is that the Russian administration wants it that way.

However, less is known about the direct relations between the leaders of Donetsk and Luhansk with the Kremlin than would be of interest.

Something however, evidence was obtained in 2016 when the president Vladimir Putin assistant Vladislav Surkovin the email was hacked and the content was leaked. They showed that at least Denis Pushilin had sent Surkov a map outline in which Ukraine had been divided into three parts.

The matter was reported at the time by, for example, a British broadcaster BBC and later the British research institute Rusin extensive explanation. According to them, the e-mails clearly show that Russia has a great say in who leads the “people’s republics” of eastern Ukraine and how.

Vladislav Surkov was allowed to leave in 2020. He was replaced by a Ukrainian-born President of Ukraine. Dmitri Kozak.

Kozak envisioned military assistance to the “People’s Republics” as early as last spring. At that time, Russia last gathered its troops on the Ukrainian border.

“Now it all depends on how big the fire bursts,” Kozak told the April 2021 news agency Interfaxine by.

“If, as our President says, it becomes a new Srebrenić, we will obviously have to offer our protection.”