In today's #vatnik soup, I'll introduce a Russian TV presenter and propagandist, Olga "Iron Doll of Putin" Skabeyeva. She's best-known for her hot takes on the Russo-Ukrainian War on Russian TV.
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Skabeyeva rose to fame while covering the Pussy Riot trial during 2012 and 2013. She was also covering the Russian anti-government rallies provoked by various Russian opposition figures, including Boris Nemtsov, Mikhail Kasyanov and Alexei Navalny.
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Since 2016 Skabeyeva and her husband Yevgeny Popov have been hosting together a show on Russia-1 called 60 Minut. The whole show is basically a pro-Putin propaganda show broadcasting outrageous lies and disinformation to support the official Russian narratives.
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If there's a narrative that supports Russian point of view, Olga has probably spread it. Along with her husband, she has spread lies and conspiracy theories about "evil Nazis in Ukraine", threatened the West with nuclear weapons...
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...and gloated over the death sentences given to two British fighters captured by the Russians in Ukraine.
Here's some of "Iron Doll's" greatest moments:
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In Sep 2022, Olga suggested that Russia should've bombed the UK during the queen's funeral, as "all the best people" are there.
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Olga and husband called the Skripal poisonings "an elaborate British plot to smear Russia". In their show, they played a fake phone call between Yulia Skripal and her cousin, Viktoria: bbc.com/news/world-eur…
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During the 2019 presidential election in Ukraine, Olga thought that their live coverage wasn't running and told her husband and co-host, Yevgeny that "We're not on TV right now — we don't have to lie".
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She's also claimed that Bucha was a false flag operation done by the "Ukrainian Nazis". She said that the West is trying to create a hybrid, "Srebrenica-like" event.
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She also suggested that Bucha was chosen for its name: "Biden said that Putin is a butcher. Bucha sounds like 'butcher' - how could they not take advantage of such a town?"
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Olga has said that "Ukrainian women are lying about being raped by Russian soldiers". She continued: "It is known for a fact that no one was raped. [...] not a single name, place or time of the rape has been mentioned by anyone accusing Russian soldiers of this so far."
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During the World Economic Meeting in Davos, she made a propaganda piece about "prostitutes who sell themselves to the elite".
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She was also one of the first people to say that "WW3 has started" after the Ukrainians sink the warship Moskva in Apr, 2022.
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In Feb, 2013, an interesting interview was seen when Skabeyeva was interviewing the Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, who was holding a loaded pistol during the interview.
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Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation published their investigation on Skabeyeva and her husband, Popov, stating that they own real estate in Moscow worth over 4 million USD. Their yearly earnings are around 170 000 USD, ...
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...but these estimates are probably lot less than their actual income. It's worth noting, that at least in 2020 they both earned more than Sergei Shoigu did.
US State Department sanctioned Skabeyeva on 24 Feb, 2023.
Sources: @JuliaDavisNews @Gerashchenko_en
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Past soups: vatniksoup.com
Correction: the Kadyrov interview was of course done in 2023, not 2013.
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