In today's #vatnik soup I'll introduce a mercenary, military blogger and a mass murderer, Igor Girkin (AKA Strelkov). Girkin used to be a FSB officer and he's been involved in many Russian wars from Chechenya and Transnistria to 2022 Russo-Ukrainian War.
1/13
Girkin is best known for his involvement in Russia's annexation activities. In April, 2014, after Russian troops captured Sloviansk, Igor was "promoted" to the made-up position of "Supreme Commander of the Donetsk People's Republic".
2/13
At this time he was using the name "Strelkov" ("Rifleman"). Soon he started ruling the puppet state DPR with iron fist, executing people on made up charges and forcing people of DPR, including women, to fight against the Ukrainians.
3/13
Later documents were found which indicated that Girkin had sentenced one person to death for stealing shirts from an abandoned building. SBU intercepted a call between Girkin and Malofeyev in May, 2014, where the latter provided instructions and military intel to Igor.
4/13
Few months later Ukrainians re-captured Sloviansk and Girkin and his cronies fled the city. He then begged Mother Russia for reinforcements, which was seen as a sign of weakness. After this, Igor fell out of favor of the Kremlin.
5/13
There are also rumours, that Vladislav Surkov conspired against Girkin and Alexander Dugin during the DPR drama. Surkov was responsible for creating the narrative and story for the Russian annexations, including the one that took place in East Ukraine.
6/13
Girkin was involved in the shooting down of MH17 airplane in July, 2014. All 298 passengers died. He made up an alternative version where the plane was filled with "rotting corpses" and it was flying on autopilot before it was shot down.
7/13
There was a serious discussion on Kremlin-controlled media whether this was true or not. In November, 2022, Girkin and two others were found guilty of murdering all 298 people on board.
8/13
Before Ukraine Girkin was involved in Transnistria, where he was again part of Russia's illegal annexations. He's also fought in Bosnia & Herzegovina, where he assumedly took part in the Višegrad massacres in which 1000s of civilians were massacred.
9/13
Girkin was also connected to several kidnappings and killings in Chechnya. Allegedly he was also behind the kidnapping, torture and murder of a 19-year old Ukrainian politician, Volodomyr Rybak.
10/13
Putin awarded Girkin with a gold coin in 2014 for helping with the annexation of Crimea. In 2019 Girkin was selling this coin because "he needed the money". He has called Putin "an American prostitute" and a clown.
11/13
After leaving Ukraine in 2014, Girkin tried to live a rather normal life in Russia while covering the war on his blog on Telegram.
In October 2022 he returned to fight as a volunteer against Ukraine. Ukraine has crowdfunded 100 000 USD reward for his capture.
12/13
He has been sanctioned by EU, US, UK, Australia, Japan, Canada, Switzerland & Ukraine for his role in the conflict in East Ukraine.
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.
1/18
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.
2/18
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.
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.
1/22
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.
2/22
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.
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.
1/14
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.
2/14
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.
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.
1/22
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,…
2/22
… 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”.
3/22
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.
1/24
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.
2/24
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.
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
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.
2/23
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.