In this thread I'll be discussing 🇷🇺 genocide in Ukraine. I'll focus on the child abductions & will be providing evidence that 🇷🇺 has planned this for a long time and that their intent has been announced in the state-owned media at least since the beginning of April, 2022.
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On April 3rd 2022, 🇷🇺 state-owned news agency RIA Novosti published an op-ed by Timofey Sergeytsev. Sergeytsev once was a consultant to pro-🇷🇺 Viktor Yanukovych and Euractiv described him as "one of the ideologists of modern Russian fascism". 2/10
In his article,Timofey called for the full destruction of Ukraine as a state and also its national identity.This, according to Timofey, should be done to accomplish Ukraine's "denazification". The article caused outrage & it has been condemned as evidence of genocidal intent.3/10
The article has been translated to English by Mariaa Kravchenko and you can read it here: medium.com/@kravchenko_mm…
I have also translated this op-ed to Finnish: medium.com/@pekka.kallion…
By the way, it was published on the same day as dozens of bodies were found in Bucha.
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Russia's war crimes are too numerous to list here, so I will focus on the kidnapping and forced transfers of children from Ukraine into Russia. Putin's troops started the kidnappings pretty much right after the invasion began.
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Already on 22nd of March, 2022, Ukraine and US claimed that over 2300 children had been abducted from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. businessinsider.com/us-embassy-acc…
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International law and the 1948 Genocide Convention state that "forcibly transferring children of the group to another group" constitutes a genocide. By May 26th, more than 238 000 Ukrainian children were allegedly deported to Russian territories.
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On May 30th, 2022, Putin signed a decree that made it easier to give Russian citizenship to Ukrainian orphans (or those w/o parental care). One of the organizers for these abductions is Maria Lvova-Belova, who was appointed as "the federal Commissioner for Children's Rights".8/10
UN has stated that "credible" reports have been presented that Russian forces had sent (and probably still do) Ukrainian children to Russia for adoption in a forced deportation programme. aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/8/…
9/10
For some reason, blogs such as @TheGrayzoneNews have not reported about these child abductions, and political commentators such as Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) have downplayed them.
These people all have something in common: they consider RT being an "independent media".
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In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the autocratic concept of “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars”: the idea that the leader is wise and just, but constantly sabotaged by corrupt advisors. This narrative shields the ruler from blame, and it’s used by both Putin and Trump today.
1/20
The phrase “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars” (Царь хороший, бояре плохие), also known as Naïve Monarchism, refers to a long-standing idea in Russian political culture: the ruler is good and benevolent, but his advisors are corrupt, incompetent and responsible for all failures.
2/20
From this perception, any positive action taken by the government is viewed as being an accomplishment of the benevolent leader, whereas any negative one is viewed as being caused by lower-level bureaucrats or “boyars”, without the approval of the leader.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian politician and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Kiriyenko. He’s best known for running both domestic and foreign disinformation and propaganda operations for the Kremlin.
1/20
On paper, and in photos, Kiriyenko is just as boring as most of the Kremlin’s “political technologists”: between 2005-2016 he headed the Rosatom nuclear energy company, but later played a leading role in the governance of Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine.
2/20
What is a political technologist? In Russia, they’re spin doctors & propaganda architects who shape opinion, control narratives, and manage elections — often by faking opposition, staging events, and spreading disinfo to maintain Putin’s power and the illusion of democracy.
Let me show you how a Pakistani (or Indian, they're usually the same) AI slop farm/scam operates. The account @designbonsay is a prime example: a relatively attractive, AI-generated profile picture and a ChatGPT-style profile description are the first red flags.
1/5
The profile's posts are just generic engagement farming, usually using AI-generated photos of celebrities or relatively attractive women.
These posts are often emotionally loaded and ask the user to interact with them ("like and share if you agree!").
2/5
Then there's the monetization part. This particular account sells "pencil art", which again are just AI-generated slop.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American lawyer and politician, Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee). He’s best-known for opposing the aid to Ukraine, undermining NATO by calling the US to withdraw from the alliance, and for fighting with a bunch of braindead dogs online.
1/21
Like many of the most vile vatniks out there, “Based Mike” is a lawyer by profession. He hails from the holy land of Mormons, Utah, where he faces little political competition, allowing him to make the most outrageous claims online without risking his Senate seat.
2/21
Before becoming a senator, Mike fought to let a nuclear waste company dump Italian radioactive waste in Utah, arguing it was fine if they just diluted it. The state said no, the public revolted, and the courts told poor Mikey to sit down.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American national security policy professional and the current under secretary of defense for policy, Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby). He’s best-known for fighting with cartoon dogs online and for halting military aid to Ukraine.
1/21
Elbridge "Cheese" Colby earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Before entering government, he worked at top think tanks and in the intelligence community, focusing on nuclear policy and strategic planning.
2/21
Cheese quickly became a key voice for a “China First” strategy, arguing the US must prioritize military buildup in Asia over commitments in Europe or the Middle East. He sees (or saw, rather) Taiwan as the core test of US credibility.