It must be AI, I thought at first when I saw the video of Dmytro Lubinets and Jana Lantratova.
The Ukrainian and Russian ombudsmen for human rights had made a joint film clip. It was filmed during the evacuation of civilians from Oleshky on 30 October.
As a matter of principle, Ukrainian officials and politicians do not pose for joint pictures with Russians. But it wasn't fake. Lubinets himself had posted the video on X, and tagged Lantratova.
And not only that: Suddenly, state-run Russian television channels started speaking well of Ukraine. That the propaganda changes its tone is never by chance - the state television channels are the extended arm of the Kremlin and receive careful instructions.
- Never has it happened in history: Two countries that are at war with each other let the guns fall silent to save people, says propaganda maker Yevgeny Popov in his report for the state television channel Rossiya. He reported in detail on the spot about the evacuation of Oleshky.
Russian-occupied Oleshky is located on the Dnipro River, opposite liberated Kherson. Its civilian population has for years lacked electricity, water and medicine, and been close to starvation because Russia does not allow humanitarian aid through.
However, on October 30, Ukraine and Russia jointly evacuated approximately 750 civilians from the city. It is the first time in four years that this form of cooperation has worked.
The ceasefire lasted for six days. For so long, the guns have never fallen silent since the outbreak of war in 2022, as Russia has always violated the ceasefire. For example, in Butja and Mariupol, the Kremlin promised humanitarian corridors by 2022. They then became death traps as the Russian army fired on civilians trying to escape through them.
Now, state-run Russian television channels seemed almost proud to cooperate with Ukraine.
- This proves that a ceasefire is possible. It is possible to come to an agreement, says propagandist Yevgeny Popov in his report from Oleshky.
So far, the state-run Russian television channels have shown open glee when Ukrainians are forced to survive without water and electricity. This in a way that does not quite go together with Putin's assurances that Russians and Ukrainians are the same people.
Yevgeny Popov, who changed his tone, is not just any propagandist. He is the new shining star of the Kremlin's propaganda machine and recently took over the Vesti nedeli talk show, the flagship of the Rossiya channel. Since 2012, it has been led by star Dmitry Kiselyov, who resigned in September.
As an operation, the evacuation from Olesjky contains new elements. It is the first time that Ukrainian officials have worked in Russian-occupied territory in cooperation with the occupying power. The Ukrainian officials could not travel the shortest way, that is, from Kherson across the Dnipro River to Oleshky, because the front line is there. Instead, they flew from Belarus to Russian Anapa and made their way from there to the occupied Crimean peninsula. From Crimea they went by bus to Oleshky.
Hundreds of Ukrainian refugees who chose to go to Ukraine traveled the same way back, through occupied and Russian territory to Anapa and then by air to Homel in Belarus. The rest of the inhabitants remained in Oleshky or went to Russia.
Ukraine and Russia have agreed not to disclose the number of evacuees – the figure of 750 is an estimate. It is likely a Ukrainian concession, since the majority apparently chose Ukraine. A Russian war blogger who was there reported on Telegram that 17 buses went to Ukraine, but only four to Russia. He was heavily criticized in Russia and later removed his update.
Is peace nearer? Hardly, if one intends a permanent peace. But all wars end with the guns falling silent, somehow. The most likely scenario for Ukraine is a frozen conflict with a demarcation line.
But before getting that far, the Russian and Ukrainian population must be prepared. This may have been a step.
