Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Nov 1, 2022 10 tweets 4 min read Read on X
In today's #vatnik soup (thanks Mike Edward,.@OpsATX for the name!) I'll be introducing the Editor of the @TheGrayzoneNews, Max Blumenthal (.@MaxBlumenthal). In his previous life, he reported on prestigious publications such as NYT, LA Times and Al Jazeera English... 1/10 Image
...often writing about the 🇮🇱-🇵🇸 conflict and doing hot takes on 🇺🇸 politics. In his political views,Max's worldview appears to be on the far-left spectrum (the 🇺🇸 far-left, not the European kind)and for example in the early 00's he wrote a lot about immigration issues in 🇺🇸.2/10
Later in his career he has been appearing on 🇷🇺 state-owned Sputnik and RT, but also actively spreading disinformation on his "news" website The Grayzone.He has defended RT in an interview with Tucker Carlson,stating that the media company does not spread Kremlin propaganda. 3/10 Image
In 2015 Blumenthal made a trip to Moscow RT's 10 Years on Air anniversary party. The trip was allegedly paid for by the Kremlin and the party was attended by people like Vladimir Putin, Michael Flynn and Ken Livingstone. 4/10
His 2009 best-selling book Republican Gomorrah was inspired by Erich Fromm's work on people willing to give up their freedom via an identification with authoritarian and charismatic leaders - I'm sure you can spot the irony here. 5/10 Image
Max has made bold claims on his website, e.g. that the Syria Civil Defence aka The White Helmets were connected to Al-Qaeda and that they were backed by Western governments and PR groups. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Hel…

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He has also published an article about Khan Shaykhun chemical attack, casting doubt on the Syrian government's responsibility. UN investigation disagreed with Mr Blumenthal's view on the issue and stated that the Syrian government was indeed responsible for the attack.

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He has also claimed already on 26th of February, 2022, that the Ukraine's regular military has been "vanquished", and that "Washington seeks to fund a CIA-backed insurgency to ratchet up civil war and destabilize Russia's frontiers".

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In addition, Max has suggested that the Mariupol theater airstrike that killed women and children was a "false flag attack" by Ukrainian AZOV batallion to trigger NATO intervention. thegrayzone.com/2022/03/18/bom…

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Ukrainian fact-checking organization StopFake lists Blumenthal as a pro-Russia journalist who promotes Russian propaganda. stopfake.org/en/russia-s-un…

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More from @P_Kallioniemi

Jun 26
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss the Wagner Group, its founders Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, and the mutiny they started on 23 Jun 2023. The event marked the climax of the Wagner Group–Russian MoD conflict, and finally led to the deaths of Prigozhin and Utkin.

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Wagner has been used in many conflicts around the world, but they came to global prominence during the war in Donbas in 2014-2015. Wagnerites helped the Donbas separatists fight against the Ukrainians during the conflict, which helped Putin to “outsource” the insurrection.

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The group doesn’t have any central ideology, but many of its members and leaders have ties to various neo—Nazi movements in Russia. For example, Wagner leader Dmitry Utkin had several Nazi symbols tattooed on his body. Neo—nazi group Rusich has also fights as part of Wagner.
3/22

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Read 23 tweets
Jun 20
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an Amsterdam-based propaganda channel, Bonanza Media (@bonanzamedia2). It’s best-known for producing & spreading online pro-Kremlin propaganda videos while closely coordinating & collaborating with the Russian intelligence agency GRU.
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Russian intelligence has been extremely active in the Netherlands for a long time. For example in 2018, four GRU agents were caught while trying to hack into OPCW,an organization that monitors the use of chemical weapons. In addition, the International Criminal Court (ICC)…
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…and the MH17 investigation have become targets for the Russian intelligence and propaganda operations. These operations are often complemented with “investigative journalism” media outlets, that often echo the Kremlin’s propaganda and disinformation.

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Read 20 tweets
Jun 14
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll talk about the recent EU elections and what are their implications for both the Kremlin and Ukraine. Right-wing political parties, some pro-Kremlin, won a lot of seats around Europe, and this result can also change the EU’s stance on Ukraine.

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But before we start, I want to promote a truck fundraiser I'm doing together with the fantastic @ArturRehi and @69thSB.

Our goal is 20 000 USD, and you can contribute to this important fundraiser here:

2/19artursarmy.com/contribute/reh…
EU’s support of Ukraine is essential for their survival against genocidal Russia. So far,this support has been delayed mostly by Orban’s Hungary (& to some degree, Fico’s Slovakia). Now, this support will probably be challenged by many new members of the European Parliament.
3/19
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Jun 14
None of these clowns (Wallace, Zdanoka and Daly) were elected to the European Parliament.

It's a bad day for authoritarian regime apologists around the world.

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Read 4 tweets
Jun 12
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss a specific propaganda/disinformation that the Kremlin likes to use – antisemitism. I also talk about how the Russian society itself has become riddled with antisemitism & how this has led to a decrease in Jewish population in the country.
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Russian antisemitism works on many levels, and their narratives vary depending whether they’re targeting a local audience or people in Europe and the US. For example for the latter, Russia attempts to create a false narrative of Ukraine being an antisemitic “Nazi state”.

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But before diving deeper, let’s look at a survey data of Russians in 2023: Nearly 30 million Russians harbour antisemitic attitudes, and 15% of those surveyed believed that “Jews were responsible for most of the world’s wars.” 38% think that the Jews have...

3/19
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Jun 5
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce a Ukrainian media personality and propagandist, Diana Panchenko (@Panchenko_X). She’s best-known for betraying her own country by peddling anti-Zelenskyy and anti-Ukraine propaganda and disinformation for the Kremlin.

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Panchenko was born in 1988 in the Mykolaev Oblast in Ukrainian SSR in 1988. She studied publishing and editing at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and later graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a degree in law.

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After graduating, Diana worked briefly for the news site . Between 2010 and 2015, Panchenko was a presenter for KyivTV, but she found her true calling as a pro-Kremlin propagandist after she was hired by a national “news channel” called NewsOne.

3/22 Gazeta.ua

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Read 22 tweets

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