Today's Finnish #vatnik is a former powerlifter turned politician and evangelist,Ano Turtiainen (.@TurtiainenAno). Since 🇷🇺's invasion of 🇺🇦,Ano has become a proponent of Putin's politics. He has spoken against all 🇷🇺 sanctions and has criticized "war crimes committed by 🇺🇦". 1/9
His views are also anti-NATO and anti-EU.Ano himself has said that he would like 🇫🇮 politics to be similar to Trump/US doctrine.His rhetoric follows the typical 🇷🇺 disinfo playbook:the decadence of West,conservatism,corruption of 🇺🇦,NATO's "proxy war" & COVID-19 conspiracies 2/9
Nowadays all of this is also decorated with religious babble and declaration of the end times. He has also stated that everyone who gets the COVID-19 vaccination will die in the near future and has compared the whole event to Holocaust. 3/9
Initially Ano was part of the True Finns group,but was sacked after he shared a mocking image of George Floyd on Twitter. After this, he started another party, Valta Kuuluu Kansalle (VKK;"Power to the People") and chose ex-MP James Hirvisaari (.@JHirvisaari) as his assistant. 4/9
People have been speculating that Hirvisaari is the mastermind behind Ano's adorable speeches. James was also fired from True Finns in 2013. He once invited a well-known 🇫🇮 far-right figure Seppo Lehto (see image below) to the Finnish Parliament. 5/9
VKK mostly consists of 🇷🇺 apologists who share the same views as Turtiainen. Ironically, Ano has also limited the power inside VKK to a very small group - I guess the "power to the people" doesn't apply in all situations. 6/9
Ano is also a convicted criminal. In 2015, he published a post on FB inciting the destruction of Finnish immigration centers and encouraged people to act against the Finnish Red Cross. For this, he was convicted of incitement to criminal behavior. 7/9
He later commented that among True Finns this conviction is only a "feather in his cap". Ano has also been convicted three times of battery. In 2010, he was convicted of assaulting a 14-year old boy. His previous battery convictions are from 1995 and 1997. 8/9
Turtiainen has had many businesses and most of them have failed. His powerlifting-related company, Gometal Oy, filed for bankruptcy in March 2022. He also owns a snack bar called Wiikinki Grilli, but apparently it's been closed, too. 9/9
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In today’s Vatnik Soup and our “Degenerate Russia” series, we’ll discuss what kind of lowlifes sink low enough to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, lie on Russia’s behalf, promote Russian BS, and even gather in Moscow or St. Petersburg to help the Kremlin wage its war.
1/21
For over a decade now and as part of their “firehose of falsehood” propaganda strategy, Russia has been spreading false narratives targeting right-wing/conservative audiences, portraying Russia as a bastion of Christian, traditional, family values.
Russia is also normalizing relations with the Taliban, doesn’t recognize Hamas or Hezbollah as terrorist groups, and deepens its military partnership with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the regime that legalized pedophilia through child marriage.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we introduce Vincent Bolloré, a French billionaire and media tycoon. He’s best known for building a powerful media empire and for reshaping editorial lines across French media and publishing, pushing them toward far-right and pro-Kremlin positions.
1/25
Born in 1952 in Boulogne-Billancourt to a family of industrialists, Vincent studied law at Paris Nanterre University. He took over the family business and turned it into a sprawling conglomerate spanning logistics, port infrastructure in Africa, advertising, and media.
2/25
Bolloré’s African logistics empire also became the subject of a long-running corruption investigation in France. Legal proceedings against Vincent Bolloré personally are still ongoing, with a trial planned in December, after a judge refused to approve a plea deal.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll introduce an American conspiracy theorist, podcaster & antisemite, Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO). She’s best known for spreading conspiracy theories, attacking Ukraine, promoting pro-Kremlin BS, and becoming a favorite of Russian state media.
1/21
Candace started her career as an intern at Vogue magazine but later moved into political commentary. Her early career focused on criticizing Republicans, calling their antics “bat-shit crazy.” In 2016, her blog even published an article about Trump’s penis size.
2/21
That same year, she launched a doxxing website called SocialAutopsy. In response, people began posting Owens’s personal information online. During the controversy, she gained support from figures such as @Nero and @Cernovich. And just like that, she became a conservative.
In today’s Wumao Soup, we’ll talk about Taiwan, the sovereign country the Chinese Communist Party insists is not a country, but constantly threatens to invade just like a country, while the “antiwar” crowd is eagerly encouraging them to start that war, endangering millions.
1/20
Taiwan is a country, a state. It has its own territory, government, army, police, courts, taxes, passports and elections, just like any other country.
The only difference? Its neighbor, imperialist China, wants to invade it, and other countries try to please the big bully.
2/20
Taiwan’s official name is the Republic of China, or ROC. The ROC was founded in 1912, after the fall of the Qing dynasty. The People’s Republic of China, or PRC, was founded by democidal dictator Mao Zedong and his communist party, in 1949, after fighting against the ROC.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll introduce Russian propaganda operations around military targets like Starobilsk. For over a decade, the Kremlin has used similar strategies, combining crisis actors, “independent journalists” and fabricated evidence.
1/13
First, let’s go back to 2014. Russia funded separatist groups and sent its mercenaries to Donbas, which led to the creation of two puppet states, Donetsk and Luhansk, governed by Russian propagandists and soldiers like Igor Girkin.
The fake genocide was touted as one of the main reasons for Russia’s war during the early stages of the full-scale invasion, and the claim was made even by Putin himself. Before his mutiny, late Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said that all this was fabricated bullshit.
In this 9th Debunk of the Day, we’ll discuss “legitimate military targets”. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine, with no declaration of war, hiding behind a “special military operation”. Yet vatniks & useful idiots pretend Russia has any legitimate or lawful targets in Ukraine.
1/8
Russia started the war in 2014 by seizing Crimea with unmarked soldiers, “little green men”. Russians have been waging an undeclared, illegal war with endless war crimes ever since, whether it’s kidnapping of Ukrainian children with genocidal intent…
… the concentration camps for Ukrainians under occupation, conscripting Ukrainians from occupied territories, or the terrorist, deliberate bombing of civilians, including their infamous “double tap” strikes.
So no, Russia does not have any “legitimate targets” in Ukraine.