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
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Serbian academic, Ratko Ristić. He’s best known for engaging in pro-Kremlin, ultranationalist politics and propaganda while undermining business ties between Serbia and the EU.
1/18
Serbia, along with Belarus, remains Russia’s staunchest European ally amid its aggression against Ukraine. Not only have they refused to impose sanctions, but Serbia has also become a regional disinformation hub, destabilizing the wider region.
2/18
Beyond foreign malign influence, Serbia’s nationalist-revisionist regime – rooted in the 1990s – has aligned with Russia’s aggressive, anti-liberal nationalist bloc. Serbian far-right groups are also well-known supporters of Russian imperialism.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Oleg Bessedin, a videoblogger and Russia’s favorite mouthpiece in Estonia. Through social media, online groups, and media networks, Bessedin has played an active role in pushing pro-Kremlin narratives to divide Estonian society.
1/13
Oleg is a content creator and businessman with strong ties to pro-Kremlin networks. He runs multiple Facebook groups and media platforms that regularly share Russian state propaganda. Estonia’s Internal Security Service (KAPO) has flagged his platforms as disinfo hubs.
2/13
Bessedin presents himself as an independent journalist, but his content is heavily biased in favor of Russian narratives. He portrays Estonia and the West as corrupt, aggressive, and anti-Russian while defending Russia’s actions on the world stage.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the Russian shadow fleet: a network of ships that operate in secret, dodge sanctions, smuggle oil, and undermine the security of Europe’s seas while keeping Putin’s war machine running.
1/15
To understand the shadow fleet, let’s rewind to 2022. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the West responded with economic shockwaves. Sanctions were imposed, Russian oil was banned, and a price cap was introduced. For Russia, this was a disaster.
2/15
But Putin is well-familiar with economic warfare. Russia quickly created a “shadow fleet” – an armada of rusting oil tankers with false identities and forged paperwork,and illegal trade routes designed to dodge Western sanctions and keep the rubles flowing.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce the American-British social media personalities, Tristan and Andrew Tate (@tatethetalisman and @cobratate).
They’re best-known for their social media grifts and allegations of human trafficking and rape.
1/22
The history of the Tate brothers was introduced thoroughly in my original Vatnik Soup thread, but since then so much has happened that this pathetic duo needs another review. The soup will go through a lot of the evidence and videos in which the Tates incriminate themselves.
2/22
The Tates became (relatively) rich through their webcam (pimping?) businesses and self-help courses targeted at young, desperate (incel?) men. At some point, they had up to 75 women working for them, and the brothers later admitted that the business was a “total scam”.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Russia’s main narratives and explain how they are being spread online by Russian operatives and MAGA Republicans. After three years of war, Russia still relies on old narratives, now amplified by the Trump administration.
1/25
Throughout the years – or even decades – Russia’s narratives against the West have remained largely the same. Many of them date back to the Cold War era, when the KGB and CIA were bitter enemies. But since then, the media landscape has drastically changed.
2/25
Russian propaganda and disinformation revolves around four main themes:
1) Russia is the victim, 2) Historical revisionism, 3) The “decadent West” is collapsing, 4) The CIA and/or “evil Anglo-Saxons” are behind every revolution & anti-Kremlin activity.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a former Ukrainian politician and president, Viktor Yanukovych. He’s best known for selling his country to Russia, trying to turn it into an authoritarian state, and eventually fleeing to Moscow once his plan failed.
1/22
Now that Russia and the US are planning to replace president Zelenskyy with someone who’s more willing to sell the country to them (most probably Viktor Medvedchuk or one of his cronies), it’s a good time to remind people how Yanukovych and Putin almost took over Ukraine.
2/22
Yanukovych’s first attempt at power came in 2004, when he “won” the Ukrainian presidential election through massive fraud. The rigged vote sparked the Orange Revolution, a wave of protests that forced the election to be re-run. His opponent, pro-Western candidate…