In today's #vatnik soup I'll introduce a 🇷🇺 spokeswoman and a birthday girl, Maria Zakharova. She's been working at this position since 2015.
Maria married Andrei Makarov in a glamorous ceremony in New York in 2005. This soup consists of pictures from this lavish event.
1/9
Maria is probably the most quoted Russian diplomat. She likes to bash the West in her speeches, and often brings up (mostly made up) contradictions from the rhetoric of the US spokespeople.
2/9
Zakharova has made some pretty weird statements throughout the years. For example, she's said that 1995 Srebrenica genocide was staged. She's said the same thing about Bucha and Izyum.
3/9
In 2016 she made an anti-Semitic joke on Russian TV, suggesting that Donald Trump won the US elections with the help of the Jews. She made her statement in a stereotypical Russian Jewish accent.
4/9
Incidentally, the only occasion when Maria has apologized was when she tweeted about Serbian president Vucic visiting Trump and compared the scene with the famous scene from the movie "Basic Instinct".
5/9
Actually, both Putin and Lavrov apologized for the incident, too. So, no apologies for genocide denial, but only for movie references - gotcha.
6/9
On 16 Feb 2022, she openly ridiculed Western intel and media predictions that Russia would attack Ukraine, saying that she should be sent the schedule so that "she can plan her vacations accordingly."
7/9
After Russia invaded Ukraine, she said that "Russia didn't start a war, it is ending it", and after that she spouted the typical "genocide of Russian population in Donbas" bullshit.
8/9
She was sanctioned by the EU on 23 Feb, 2022 as "a central figure of the government propaganda". Her assets were frozen and she was put on no fly list. On March 8, 2022, she was sanctioned by Australia and on March 18, 2022 by Japan.
9/9
She's still got it.
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In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll reintroduce an American political commentator and pro-Kremlin propagandist, Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson). He’s best known for his promotion of crazy conspiracy theories and for his support of authoritarian regimes around the world.
1/24
Tucker’s career spans decades, but he’s also been very active in recent years, so a lot has happened since our previous soup on him, which can be found here:
Once described as “the most powerful conservative in America”, Tucker has now fully transformed into a grifting conspiracy theorist and propagandist willing to work for whoever pays him the most. It’s unclear whether Tucker truly believes his endless conspiracy theories or…
3/24
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