Today's Finnish #vatnik report may ruffle some feathers. It's a story about how love... sorry, business conquers all. Our main character (for once) is someone who has immense influence in the 🇫🇮 politics. His name is Paavo Lipponen, a former, two-term Prime Minister of 🇫🇮 1/7
During 2008-2022, Lipponen lobbied the infamous, Gazprom (i.e. 🇷🇺-state) owned Nord Stream gas pipe. This job was offered to him by two Germans and Putin's BFF's: ex-chancellor of Germany, Gerhard Schröder, and a former Stasi agent Matthias Warnig. 2/7
Before joining their crew,Lipponen consulted 🇫🇮 current president,Tarja Halonen and PM Matti Vanhanen about the job,and they okay'd it. Month after the first meeting between Lipponen,Schröder and Warnig,🇷🇺 invaded 🇬🇪. They had already invaded Chechnya for the 2nd time before. 3/7
To Lipponen's defense, his plan to switch from nuclear (that was shunned after the Chernobyl incident) to gas was already hatched back in the '90s. It was initially planned to be coordinated with 🇸🇪, but after they refused, the focus was steered to 🇷🇺's gas fields. 4/7
During '07-'21, Cosmopolis (Lipponen's company) had made ~3,4 million euros in profit and Nord Stream AG was most definitely one of the company's biggest clients. Lipponen continued to consult for 🇷🇺-state owned Nord Stream throughout all these events:
5/7
2008 South Ossetia War
2009 Murder of Sergei Magnitsky
2014 Crimea annexation, invasion of Donbas, shoot-down of MH17
2018 Skripal murders
2022 Invasion of Ukraine
In March 2022, the contract between Lipponen-owned Cosmopolis and Nord Stream AG was dissolved. 6/7
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the Kremlin’s toolbox at sea. Recently, we have seen several sabotage operations allegedly conducted by Russia & its allies, especially in the Baltic Sea region. Since 2023, there have been several underwater cables cut by ships’ anchors.
1/18
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,the Baltic Sea has become a hotspot for NATO-Russia rivalry. This rivalry ramped up in Sep 2022,when the Nord Stream gas pipelines were sabotaged by an unknown perpetrator (some blame a “pro-Ukraine group”, others, the Russians).
2/18
These sabotage operations in the Baltic Sea now target critical infrastructure like Internet and energy cables, links that are vital for European communication and trade. Russia and its allies allegedly use these acts to test NATO’s resilience and response.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the absolute state of X in January 2025. Since its acquisition by Elon Musk, this platform has rapidly transformed into his personal political tool and a breeding ground for hate speech and disinformation.
1/22
Not everyone is following this shitshow as closely as I am, so I thought it would be good to write a summary of all the changes that have happened on this forum and outside of it. These changes have drastically changed how the platform operates and who gets “a voice” here.
2/22
Elon’s team has been tweaking the algorithm many times after the takeover. One of these tweaks happened already around Nov 2022, when the platform heavily suppressed the visibility of pro-Ukraine accounts. This change was then noticed & reported by many pro-Ukraine accounts.
3/22
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Venezuelan bus driver, politician & dictator, Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro). He’s best-known for ruining Venezuela, turning it into a dictatorship, and for collaborating with other authoritarian regimes like Russia, Iran & Belarus.
1/22
His exact birthplace has been questioned, but most sources agree that Mr. Maduro was born in Caracas, Venezuela. Maduro was raised in a Catholic family, but at some point became a follower of Indian Hindu guru Sathya Sai Baba and even visited the guru in India back in 2005.
2/22
Nicolás’ introduction to leftist politics happened during the 80s, when he acted as an unofficial trade unionist and as bodyguard for José Vicente Rangel, who later worked as a foreign minister under Hugo Chávez. He also visited Havana, Cuba, where he “studied communism”,…
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an Estonian politician and propagandist, Aivo Peterson. He’s best-known for travelling to Donbas and Mariupol to produce pro-Kremlin propaganda, and for trying to create a pro-Russia separatist movement in Estonia.
1/16
Peterson is what I call a “decoy vatnik” - someone who’s so overtly pro-Kremlin that their activities draw a lot of attention (think Johan Bäckman in Finland), and the Putin bootlickers who work through business and politics can operate in peace.
2/16
Aivo hails from Ida-Viru, a region populated mostly by Russians. His father was Russian — his birthname was Krylov, but he later took his mother’s surname Peterson. Before becoming a full-time Kremlin propagandist, he worked as a border guard, masseur & real estate agent.