Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Dec 5, 2022 9 tweets 4 min read Read on X
In today's #vatnik soup and 3rd edition of "You pronounced this nonsense, not me", I'll explain why 🇷🇺 is definitely NOT fighting NATO as they say. 1st of all, why are they claiming this without showing any proof? There are two reasons: 1) 🇷🇺 always lies, & 2) they're losing. 1/9 Image
In August, Putin's deputy chief-of-staff, Sergey Kiriyenko declared that "Ukraine’s leadership has sold out its own people to fight on behalf of NATO against Russia." He continued: "We understand very well that we are not fighting against Ukraine in the Ukrainian territory,...2/9 Image
... and we are certainly not against the Ukrainian people. The entire NATO bloc is at war with Russia in Ukraine with Ukrainians' hands"

This "news" was quickly spread by far-right blogs such as Europe Renaissance.

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It was then amplified with fake propaganda videos such as "Putin is stuck: 10 thousand NATO Troops entered the territory of Ukraine!" - a clip that "proved" the presence of NATO and that was seen by over 120 000 people before it was deleted.

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On September 21, 2022, Putin picked this narrative for his own speech, when he suggested that "The Kyiv regime has launched new gangs of foreign mercenaries and nationalists, military units trained to Nato standards and under the de-facto command of Western advisers."

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RIA Novosti joined the claim by stating that "Our intelligence agencies revealed the arrival of regular Nato officers in the Kharkiv region."

All this was said after the humiliating losses at Kharkiv Oblast & further amplified after the drone strike vs. the Black Sea fleet.

6/9 Image
As a "proof" Russia has shown tweets by American soldiers fighting in Ukraine. These people are not currently serving in the US military but have joined the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. Of course, no ACTUAL proof of NATO involvement has been presented.

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To conclude, I would like to share one of my "favorite" stories from the Syrian civil war: the Battle of Khasham. It is the only modern example of combat between US and Russia-affiliated (PMC Wagner) elite troops. This battle showed the huge skill gap between the two.

8/9
It was roughly 4-hour battle in which a group of Wagner's finest were obliterated by a much smaller US force, without taking any losses. Read the story here: coffeeordie.com/wagner-group-s…

IF Russia was fighting NATO in Ukraine by traditional means, the war would already be over.

9/9

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More from @P_Kallioniemi

Sep 11
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the agenda-setting and flood of disinformation that spread on X and other platforms right after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s far from the first or last time a tragedy has been weaponized for political purposes.

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Every major political event, especially those involving violence, attracts massive attention. In the immediate aftermath, reliable information is scarce, making it highly vulnerable to both coordinated and improvised disinformation campaigns.

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As I’ve mentioned in my previous soups and lectures, in disinformation campaigns, being first with a narrative is crucial, as people often remember the first version best — psychology studies show it sets the mental schema, and later updates rarely overwrite it.

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Read 19 tweets
Sep 8
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American social media personality David Freeman, AKA Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman). He’s best known for spreading political disinformation on X and shamelessly sucking up to Trump, Putin, and other authoritarian leaders.

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David is a textbook example of someone profiting from MAGA grievance politics. He uses extreme, provocative language to farm engagement on X and never hesitates to flatter anyone who might give him more exposure — or money.

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But David wasn’t always like this. At some point, in his mid-40s, he even tried a real job: he trained to become a cop. He spent three years with the Metro Transit PD, but after that he either got fired or quit, and never looked back.

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Read 24 tweets
Sep 5
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian-Estonian businessman, Oleg Ossinovski. He is best-known for his deep ties to Russian rail and energy networks, shady cross-border dealings, and for channeling his wealth into Estonian politics.

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Oleg made his fortune via Spacecom Trans & Skinest Rail, both deeply tied to Russia’s rail system. Most of this is through Globaltrans Investments PLC, a Cyprus-based firm with 62% held via Spacecom and tens of millions in yearly profits.

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Ossinovski’s Russian-linked ventures made him Estonia’s richest man in 2014, with an estimated fortune of ~€300M. His business empire stretched across railways, oil via Alexela shares, and Russian bitumen imports from Help-Oil, a supplier to the Defense Ministry.

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Read 15 tweets
Sep 2
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Swiss/French writer, Alain Bonnet, aka Alain Soral (@officielsoral). He’s best known for his rabid antisemitism and for his pathetic support for all the worst authoritarian regimes from Russia to North Korea.

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Alain’s childhood was problematic, as his father has been characterized as a “narcissistic pervert” who beat his children and did jail time for fraud. Alain himself has said he was “programmed to be a monster.” Born Alain Bonnet, he took the stage name of his sister,…

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… actress Agnès Soral. She wasn’t too happy about this, commenting “How would you like to be called Agnès Hitler?”. Like many grifters, he became a pick-up/seduction artist writer, à la late Gonzalo Lira, writing books and even making a B-movie, “Confessions d’un dragueur”.
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Read 23 tweets
Aug 18
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explain the Alaska Fiasco and how it marks the peak of Trump’s two-year betrayal of Ukraine. What was sold as “peace talks” turned into a spectacle of weakness, humiliation, empty promises, and photo-ops that handed Putin exactly what he wanted.

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Let’s start with the obvious: Trump desperately wants the gold medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, mainly because Obama got one. That’s why he’s now LARPing as a “peace maker” in every conflict: Israel-Gaza, Azerbaijan-Armenia, India-Pakistan, and of course Ukraine-Russia.

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Another theory is that Putin holds kompromat — compromising material such as videos or documents — that would put Trump in an extremely bad light. Some have suggested it could be tied to the Epstein files or Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

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Read 25 tweets
Aug 11
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about engagement farming: a cynical social media tactic to rack up likes, shares, and comments. From rage farming to AI-powered outrage factories, engagement farming is reshaping online discourse and turning division into profit.

1/23 Photo by JULIE OLIVER /Postmedia
Engagement farming is a social media tactic aimed at getting maximum likes, shares, and comments, with truth being optional. It thrives on provocative texts, images, or videos designed to spark strong reactions, boost reach, and turn online outrage into clicks and cash.

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One subset of engagement farming is rage farming: a tactic built to provoke strong negative emotions through outrageous or inflammatory claims. By triggering anger or moral outrage, these posts often generate 100s or even 1,000s of heated comments, amplifying their reach.

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Read 24 tweets

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