9:40 p.m.: Videos of pro-Russian leaders announcing evacuations appear to have been filmed two days ago
A few hours apart, pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine (Donbass) ordered the evacuation of civilians to Russia, accusing Ukraine of preparing an attack, accusations echoed by Vladimir Putin. But as the leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, announces these evacuations “from today, February 18”, the metadata of the file he shared on Telegram reveals that the video was created there. two days ago, Wednesday February 16. Ditto for the video shared by Leonid Passetchnik, the leader of the People’s Republic of Lugansk.
This suggests that these evacuations could have been premeditated by Moscow, because it was on Wednesday, 24 hours after the videos were filmed, that the situation became particularly tense with numerous explosions and a kindergarten affected. US intelligence, for its part, says Russia is looking for a pretext to launch the offensive.