Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Dec 8, 2022 10 tweets 5 min read Read on X
In today's #vatnik soup, I'll start an introduction about the Russian information operations (an activity that tries to affect the public opinion and behavior of a society), disinformation and propaganda.

This topic is a broad issue and I'll do it over several threads.

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The Russian model of disinformation dates back to KGB days. KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov explained already in 1985 the idea of "ideological subversion" or "active measures" as an overt and open operation of manipulation of public opinion.

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Bezmenov said that Russian "active measures" can be divided into 4 stages: 1) demoralization, 2) destabilization, 3) crisis, and finally 4) normalization.

I can highly recommend watching this interview of Bezmenov as it's still very topical:

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The general model for info ops is as follows: 1) sowing fears, 2) fueling mistrust, and finally 3) offering salvation.

Let's use COVID-19 as an example: at the beginning of the pandemic, Russian disinformation was outlining that COVID is highly lethal ...

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... and that you can't trust the government on anything they say. This same idea was then shifted to vaccinations. This disinfo campaign is still going strong: web.archive.org/web/2022091413…

Finally, Russia offered a "salvation" with their own Sputnik V vaccine.

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In this regard their propaganda was a total failure: it backfired, spread inside Russia and large portion of Russians skipped the vaccines altogether. In Lithuania, most of the COVID deaths were among the Russian speaking population who became victims of Russian disinfo.

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Another example of a successful info op in the West were the 2016 US elections. Russia's "Project Lakhta" interfered with democratic election process with huge amount of disinformation, spreading mistrust and uncertainty in the society: justice.gov/opa/pr/russian…

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Troll farm IRA founder Yevgeny Prigozhin denied their involvement and even sued people who suggested this,but in Nov,'22 he admitted that "We have interfered (in U.S. elections), we are interfering and we will continue to interfere. [..] in our own way, as we know how to do."8/10
Trump was the perfect candidate for Russia: his businesses were in Russia & he was conducting the Russian disinformation model, "firehose of falsehood" perfectly: Based on Washington Post's research, Trump made over 30 000 false or misleading statements during his presidency.9/10 Image
The legacy of his pro-Putin politics can still be seen in the US with politicians like QAnon & Pizzagate advocate Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) and agitator and a laughingstock Jackson Hinkle (@jacksonhinklle).

Stay tuned for part two!

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More from @P_Kallioniemi

Jun 20
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce a Latvian politician and former MEP, Tatjana Ždanoka. She’s best-known for her history in the Communist Party of Latvia, for her pro-Russian politics in the country, and her connections to Russian intelligence.

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Based on Ždanoka’s speeches and social media posts, she has a deep hatred towards the people of Latvia. The reason for this can only be speculated, but part of it could be due to her paternal family being killed by the Latvian Auxiliary Police,…

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…a paramilitary force supported by the Nazis, during the early 1940s. Ždanoka became politically active in the late 80s. She was one of the leaders of Interfront, a political party that supported Latvia remaining part of the USSR.

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Read 23 tweets
Jun 16
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce the main themes of Russian disinformation on TikTok. Each day, there are thousands of new videos promoting pro-Kremlin narratives and propaganda.

It’s worth noting that Russians can only access European TikTok via VPN.

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There is currently a massive TikTok campaign aimed at promoting a positive image of Russia. The videos typically feature relatively attractive young women and focus on themes of nationalism and cultural heritage.

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Ironically, many of these videos from Moscow or St. Petersburg are deceptively edited to portray Ukraine in a false light — claiming there is no war and that international aid is being funneled to corrupt elites.

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Read 11 tweets
Jun 8
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about Finland and how pro-Kremlin propagandists have become more active in the Finnish political space since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For the first time since 2022, they’ve gained some political power in Finland.

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Russia’s political strategy in countries with Russian-speaking minorities (such as Finland and the Baltics) is typically quite similar: it seeks to rally these minorities around issues like language and minority rights, and then frames the situation as oppression.

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At the same time, Russian speakers are extremely wary and skeptical of local media, and instead tend to follow Russian domestic outlets like Russia-1 and NTV, thereby reinforcing an almost impenetrable information bubble.

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Read 17 tweets
Jun 2
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the Ukrainian SBU’s “Spiderweb” operation and the main disinformation narrative vatniks have been spreading during the afterfall. While domestic Russian media stays silent, the vatniks and Russian milbloggers have been extremely loud.

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This operation was probably the most impactful strike since the drowning of the Moskva, massively reducing Russia’s capability to bomb Ukrainian cities (or anyone else’s). It involved smuggling 117 FPV drones hidden in trucks into Russia. Once near airbases,…

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…the roofs opened remotely, launching drones in synchronized waves to strike targets up to 4,000 km away. The mission took 18 months to plan. The unsuspecting Russian truck drivers who transported them had no idea they were delivering weapons deep behind their own lines.

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Read 21 tweets
May 28
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian movie director, propagandist, and former priest: Ivan Okhlobystin. He’s best known for his strong support for the war on Ukraine and for his radical views, which are often used as a testbed for the domestic Russian audience.

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Ivan was born in 1966 from a short-lived marriage between a 62-year-old chief physician and a 19-year-old engineering student. She later remarried, and the family moved from Kaluga province to Moscow. Ivan kept the surname Okhlobystin from his biological father.

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After moving to Moscow, Ivan began studying at VGIK film school. He soon became a playwright for theatre productions and also wrote for Stolitsa magazine, which he later left because, as he put it, “it had become a brothel.”

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Read 21 tweets
May 22
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Ukrainian-born former State Duma deputy, Vladimir Medinsky. He is best known as one of the ideologues of the “Russkiy Mir”, for his close ties to Vladimir Putin, and for leading the “peace talks” in Turkey in 2022 and 2025.

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During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Medinsky interned as a correspondent on the international desk of the TASS news agency, learning the ways of propaganda at an early age. Some time later, he earned two PhDs – one in political science and the other in history.

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As is tradition in Russia, Medinsky’s academic work was largely pseudo-scientific and plagiarized. Dissernet found that 87 of 120 pages in his dissertation were copied from his supervisor’s thesis. His second dissertation was also heavily plagiarized.

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Read 21 tweets

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