In today's #vatnik soup, I'll introduce a Russian grand propagandist Margarita Simonyan. She's the Editor-in-Chief of RT and Rossiya Segodnya.
She is one of the best known Kremlin mouthpieces and controls a large Russian propaganda network.
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Simonyan started her journalism career covering the 2nd Chechen War. Later she was one of the first journalists to report on the Beslan school hostage situation in 2004. After this she moved to Moscow to join the Kremlin propaganda machinery. She was only 25 when she was... 2/10
... appointed as the Editor-in-Chief of RT. Andrei Richter, a journalism professor, stated that she got the job because of her connections. At the beginning, she told a reporter that Kremlin wouldn't dictate any content and there would be no censorship in RT's coverage. 3/10
In 2020, Simonyan defended a overtly racist TV segment where his husband and an actress was wearing blackface posing as Barack Obama. She stated that this kind of shit is okay because her husband is of Armenian background: businessinsider.com/kremlin-tv-sta…
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In regards to Ukraine, Margarita has been echoing the basic Kremlin rhetoric: Ukraine bombed Donbas for several years, Ukraine is full of nazis and that Russia is at war with NATO.
She's also said that the food crisis will force the West to lift all sanctions on Russia. 5/10
She has also said some rancid stuff about the conflict. For example, on Feb 24, 2022 she tweeted that "This is a standard parade rehearsal, It's just that this year we decided to hold the parade in Kyiv". 6/10
She's also said that "considerable portion of the Ukrainian people have turned out to be engulfed in the madness of nazism." On "The Evening with Vladimir Solovyov", Margarita said that she's okay with nuclear war if it goes to that, because "We're all going to die someday." 7/10
She's also encouraged Russia to war crimes, such as disabling Ukrainian nuclear power plants. In April, 2022, she proposed the removal of article on the prohibition of censorship from the Russian constitution, stating that "freedom of speech will lead to collapse of Russia". 8/10
In 2018, Margarita wrote a script for a state-sponsored movie, "The Crimean Bridge. Made with Love!". It was a horrible piece of propaganda and hated by all critics, but based on Navalny's research, Margarita, her husband and her relatives earned ~700 000 USD for making it. 9/10
Margarita has suggested that Russia conquered Kyiv during the first week of the conflict and then simply gave it back:
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I talk about populism. Populism includes a range of political stances with the focus on the idea of the “common people” in opposition to the “elites”. In recent decades, populism has been on the rise around the world,and especially in the US & Europe.
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At its core, populism pits “the people” against “the elites.” It’s a political approach that claims to represent the common folk, often oversimplifying complex issues and tapping into frustrations. Populism can be left-wing, right-wing, or somewhere in between.
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In the US and Canada during the 19th and early 20th century, populist sentiments often came from the small independent farmers, “the people”, who were opposing the bankers and politicians, or “the elites”. The People’s Party in the US was considered…
In today’s vatnik soup, I’ll discuss how Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania cut the cord on Russian energy, further reducing their reliance on the Kremlin.
At the same time, the Baltics set an example for EU countries like Slovakia & Hungary whose leadership still worships Putin.
1/24
Moscow has long used its vast natural gas reserves as a geopolitical weapon, manipulating energy supplies to keep neighbors obedient. They’ve used the “energy weapon” several times, with the most blatant cases of Kremlin blackmail coming of course from Ukraine.
2/24
Let’s rewind back to the 1990s: The USSR dissolved, but Russia inherited the gas reserves, pipelines, and Gazprom — its political weapon. Meanwhile, the Baltic states were politically free but economically tied to Russia, heavily reliant on Russian gas.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an Estonian politician, Jana Toom (@JanaToomEE). She’s best-known for promoting pro-Kremlin viewpoints both in domestic Estonian politics and in the European Parliament.
1/22
Toom’s mother, Margarita Chernogorova, studied law in Leningrad & worked for the Communist Party. She was also a confidant to the most notorious leader of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, Karl Vaino. One of Chernogorova’s tasks was to suppress the Singing Revolution.
2/22
During the early 90s Toom lived with her husband in Snezhinsk, Russia and returned to Estonia in 1994. Soon after, she joined the editorial board of Molodyož Estonii, a paper known for being a mouthpiece for the Leninist Communist Youth League during the Soviet era.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the Kremlin’s toolbox at sea. Recently, we have seen several sabotage operations allegedly conducted by Russia & its allies, especially in the Baltic Sea region. Since 2023, there have been several underwater cables cut by ships’ anchors.
1/18
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,the Baltic Sea has become a hotspot for NATO-Russia rivalry. This rivalry ramped up in Sep 2022,when the Nord Stream gas pipelines were sabotaged by an unknown perpetrator (some blame a “pro-Ukraine group”, others, the Russians).
2/18
These sabotage operations in the Baltic Sea now target critical infrastructure like Internet and energy cables, links that are vital for European communication and trade. Russia and its allies allegedly use these acts to test NATO’s resilience and response.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the absolute state of X in January 2025. Since its acquisition by Elon Musk, this platform has rapidly transformed into his personal political tool and a breeding ground for hate speech and disinformation.
1/22
Not everyone is following this shitshow as closely as I am, so I thought it would be good to write a summary of all the changes that have happened on this forum and outside of it. These changes have drastically changed how the platform operates and who gets “a voice” here.
2/22
Elon’s team has been tweaking the algorithm many times after the takeover. One of these tweaks happened already around Nov 2022, when the platform heavily suppressed the visibility of pro-Ukraine accounts. This change was then noticed & reported by many pro-Ukraine accounts.
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