In today's #vatnik soup, I'll discuss propaganda. Why is 🇺🇦 winning the propaganda war? What happened to 🇷🇺 as a propaganda/disinformation powerhouse?
Here's my take:
1/12
🇷🇺 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, 🇺🇦 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 🇷🇺. Previously most countries were focusing on praising their own policies, but this method changed the game. 3/12
At the beginning of 2022, 🇷🇺 still had a big lead on the disinformation effectiveness. Their troll farms produced propaganda around the clock, and some of it - especially the antivaxx and racial tensions kind - seemed to be working well on fringe groups around the globe.
4/12
Then, after 🇷🇺's full-scale invasion in 🇺🇦, everything changed. What happened? My theory is that 🇷🇺 had been pushing their luck for too long with Crimea and Donbass, and the collective West simply said "Enough".
5/12
Western democracies and prominent politicians decided that it's time to aid 🇺🇦 in their defense and started providing aid packages worth billions of dollars. Media caught up and started defending 🇺🇦, too. After this, all 🇷🇺 statements fell on deaf ears.
6/12
Biolabs, deadly pathogens, neo-nazis, NATO's proxy war... All of these narratives were ridiculed in the Western media and in social media. Individual claims were quickly neutralized by OSINT experts such as the @bellingcat.
7/12
In May, #NAFO swooped in and started battling the online disinformation with their Shiba Inu memes. We also shouldn't forget 🇺🇦's propaganda, which was constructed brilliantly. First of all, it was all REAL (except for that Ghost of Kyiv guy and a few others): ...
8/12
... We saw children in bomb shelters, soldiers dancing on fields,🇷🇺 tanks used as a flower bed, demolished civilian buildings, and most of all: we saw their courageous leader. Already on 25th of Feb, 2022,Zelenskyy and his posse recorded a short clip from the streets of Kyiv.9/12
Early March, 2022, 🇷🇺 disinfo suggested that president Zelenskyy had fled to 🇵🇱. After this, Zelenskyy recorded even more material, directly from the war zone. At the same time, frail Putin was seen sitting at long tables, far away from his military advisors.
10/12
This is just one example how 🇺🇦 emphasizes individual tragedies and especially HEROISM.Their propaganda tells a David vs. Goliath story, and everybody loves an underdog. 🇷🇺 propaganda focuses on their military POWER and attempts to DENIGRATE 🇺🇦 as a nation and as a culture. 11/12
To conclude, it is worth mentioning that 🇷🇺 propaganda probably works really well in 🇷🇺. Two-thirds of Russia relies on state TV for their news. Their top propagandist Vladimir Solovyov spews out propaganda and outright lies daily, like this:
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.
1/22
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.
2/22
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
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.
1/19
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)…
2/19
…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.
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.
1/19
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:
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
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.
1/19
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”.
2/19
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...
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.
1/22
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.
2/22
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.