In today's #vatnik soup, I'll introduce a first female vatnik, ๐ซ๐ฎ Leena Hietanen. She used to be a quite prominent journalist who wrote to some of the most popular newspapers in ๐ซ๐ฎ. This report is also my first attempt at adding subtitles, so please be gentle with feedback.
1/5
At some point Leena's brain circuits went haywire, and she became a berserk ๐ท๐บ apologists. Hietanen HATES ๐ซ๐ฎ and ๐ช๐ช culture and politics. Already back in 2008 she wrote a book called "Estonia's cold war", which criticized Estonian politics regarding ๐ท๐บ minorities.
2/5
She has refused to call the USSR's occupation of ๐ช๐ช an occupation. She has also called the Estonian people "criminally stupid" on ๐ซ๐ฎ national TV and written a pamflet on ๐ช๐ช media where she called ๐ช๐ช a "fasist apartheid country".
3/5
Nowadays nobody really gives a shit about her, and she's mostly appearing on Johan Bรคckman's (whom I wrote about earlier:
) stream. Hietanen is a rabid supporter of ๐ท๐บ invasion of Ukraine and the so-called "Novorossiya".
4/5
Leena & Johan have established an association called "Finnish Antifascist Committee", which supports most fascist regimes around the world. This committee has for example suggested, that terrorist attacks have been planned in ๐ซ๐ฎ and these people are connected with al-Qaida.
5/5
Pinging @petite_michelle, have you heard of Leena Hietanen before?
โข โข โข
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
In today's #vatnik soup, I'll introduce a man who has worked mostly behind the scenes - Vladislav Surkov. Some of you might not even recognize the name, but he's the main architect of both the polarizing disinformation program and the annexation system of ๐ท๐บ. 1/9
Many perceive Surkov as a key figure behind Putin's power and P. Pomerantsev gave him the nickname "Putin's Rasputin". Vladislav was the key figure in putting Kadyrov to his current position (Kadyrov calls him his "sworn brother" and even has a picture of
him on the wall). 2/9
Surkov's approach to geopolitics comes through theatre - he studied theatre direction for 3 years and he's an excellent dramaturg. He is also closely related to a movement called "political technology", which is often referred as "a industry of political manipulation".
In today's #vatnik soup, I'll discuss propaganda. Why is ๐บ๐ฆ winning the propaganda war? What happened to ๐ท๐บ as a propaganda/disinformation powerhouse?
Here's my take:
1/12
๐ท๐บ established their disinformation machinery a long time ago, and a big part of their modus operandi comes already from the KGB era. Their propaganda focuses on putting a negative spotlight on other actors, for example the political opposition, ๐บ๐ฆ or the West.
2/12
This "bashing of foreign actors" is a very effective propaganda method,and many countries have taken a similar approach after they've seen how well it has worked for ๐ท๐บ. Previously most countries were focusing on praising their own policies, but this method changed the game. 3/12
In today's #vatnik soup,I'll go through the many motives in creation of pro-๐ท๐บ "useful idiots".By useful idiot I refer to a person who spreads propaganda and disinfo for a cause, either consciously or unconsciously. It's by no means a comprehensive list,but it's a good intro.1/13
I have divided these methods into four distinct categories, but individuals can of course be affected by multiple methods. These methods are: 1) wealth, 2) power, 3) anxiety/disenfranchisement, and 4) kompromat. 2/13
1) Wealth: You can include many politicians and businessmen on this list. After the collapse of USSR, Russia opened up its businesses to the West, and many answered to this call. In case you were willing to ignore the human rights violations and ongoing invasions by ๐ท๐บ, 3/13
In today's #vatnik soup I'll be introducing a man behind both ๐ท๐บ's private war organization and its disinformation and propaganda machine: an oligarch and a businessman Yevgeni Prigozhin. This thread will be divided into 2 (or 3) parts since his "achievements" are plentiful. 1/10
Like many oligarchs, Yevgeni used to be a petty criminal and spent 9 years in prison in the 80's for robbery and fraud. After his release, he started various lucrative food businesses, eventually opening a restaurant in St. Petersburg called New Island.
2/10
It quickly became the most fashionable restaurant in St. Petersburg and Putin himself started dining there with people like Jacques Chirac and George W. Bush. By 2003, Prigozhin had become a confidante of Putin and people started calling him "Putin's chef".
In this thread I'll be discussing ๐ท๐บ genocide in Ukraine. I'll focus on the child abductions & will be providing evidence that ๐ท๐บ 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.
1/10
On April 3rd 2022, ๐ท๐บ state-owned news agency RIA Novosti published an op-ed by Timofey Sergeytsev. Sergeytsev once was a consultant to pro-๐ท๐บ 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
Fringe pro-๐ท๐บ bloggers such as the @TheGrayzoneNews like to keep the ๐ท๐บ narrative of Ukrainian neo-nazis and the need for "denazification" inside Ukraine. Today I'll be introducing a real Russian #vatnik, co-leader of the Rusich group and a neo-nazi called Aleksei Milchakov. 1/8
Aleksei is a real piece of work. He came to public attention in 2011 after he made a home movie of him torturing, decapitating and allegedly eating a puppy. newsru.com/crime/28nov201โฆ
2/8
On what claims can we call Aleksei a nazi? He's admitted it himself: in 2020, a video with two men discussing was published on a ๐ท๐บ nationalist Youtube channel. One of them is Aleksei. In the video he states that "Iโm a nationalist, a patriot, an imperialist [...] I'm a nazi."3/8