In today's #vatnik soup, I'll introduce a corrupted Russian Deputy Prime Minister of Russia for Social Policy, Labour, Health and Pension Provision, Tatiana Golikova. Before this, she worked as the Minister of Health and Social Development.
1/11
As a Minister, Golikova has the largest portfolio of powers and is responsible for many things in Russia - healthcare,education and pensions all fall under her huge umbrella. She's married to Viktor Khristenko, and together they have made a fortune from various enterprises. 2/11
Golikova and Khristenko have tried to hide their fortune via offshore companies and front organizations - as is the tradition among the wealthy in Russia. They've also transferred wealth to Khristenko's son, Vladimir.
3/11
One of their companies is called Nanolek. Nanolek is owned by Golikova and Khristenko through complex company arrangements in Cyprus. Golikova's family also has stake in Generium, the largest manufacturer of COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik-V.
4/11
Golikova's stepson has a 8,33% share in Generium that's worth over 60 million EUR. It's worth noting that foreign COVID-19 vaccines were forbidden in Russia, and we all know who made the call on that.
5/11
Several Russian media outlets have accused Golikova of corruption. She and her husband, Viktor Khristenko, have connections to a company called Pharmstandard that makes over 400 drugs for both internal market and for export purposes.
6/11
They also produce a "miracle drug" called Arbidol, one of most sold drugs in Russia. Russian Academy of Sciences has declared that the effects of Arbidol are not scientifically proven. This didn't stop Tatiana from hyping it, gaining her the nickname "Madam Arbidol".
7/11
Think about your own country - would it be possible for the Minister of Health to promote drugs and vaccines from companies they own? Yet this seems to be perfectly allowed in modern Russia, as long as your part of the "nomenklatura".
8/11
Based on research by Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, Golikova and her husband have earned at least 632 million EUR from their pharmaceutical and other enterprises. They estimate the real figure to be much higher, though.
9/11
Where did all this money go? The family of course has their own private jet, that they used to fly around Europe while the common folk was told to cancel all of their travel arrangements because of COVID-19.
They own 3 golf courses in Russia and one in Spain.
10/11
They also own real estate and hotels in Spain, Portugal, France and Russia. Their summer house, Villa Infinita cost 18 million EUR.
Golikova was sanctioned by the EU and Switzerland in Dec, 2022. She was sanctioned by Ukraine in June, 2022.
Sources: navalny.com/p/6627/
11/11
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In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss the sad (but funny) state of Finnish vatniks. After Russia launched their full-scale invasion against Ukraine, the Finnish pro-Kremlin/conspiracy theorist scene experienced a dramatic devaluation and hasn’t been able to bounce back since.
1/20
I often get asked about the current state of the Finnish vatnik club, and there’s usually not much to report.
It’s not because these people have stopped, but because today their work has only comedic value.
So here’s the latest:
2/20
Master vatnik and traitor Johan Bäckman has relocated to Russia, and he was recently given a Russian citizenship. It’s obvious that Johan was recruited by Russia’s intelligence agencies a long time ago. He’s still producing videos on YouTube on his…
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce a Romanian politician and conspiracy theorist, Călin Georgescu (@calin_georgescu). He’s best-known for his pro-Kremlin and conspiratorial views, running for president of Romania, and doing it by only campaigning on TikTok.
1/25
Georgescu has a doctorate in pedology (a branch of soil science), and held various positions in Romania’s environment ministry during the 90s.
Between 1999-2012, he was a representative for Romania on the national committee of the United Nations Environment Program.
2/25
He was proposed as Romania’s prime minister in 2011, 2012 and 2016 by Romanian far-right parties, but he rose to international infamy in 2024, when he ran for president of Romania independently and obtained the most votes (22,95%) out of all candidates in the first round.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce a Canadian journalist and alleged Soviet/Russian spy, David Pugliese (@davidpugliese). He’s best-known for his articles about “Ukrainian Nazis”, and for allegedly being a spy for both the Soviet Union and later Russia.
1/21
Several months ago I was anonymously sent a pile of documents from the mid-80s originating from the KGB archives in Kyiv. These documents outlined a KGB recruitment into “Stuart”, or David Pugliese who “works in foreign mass media” and who is…
2/21
..“studied with the perspective of possible operative use”. Another document described “Stuart’s” contact “Ivan”, who allegedly became his handler.Some have speculated that “Ivan” is Fred Weir, a correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor.He’s lived in Moscow since 1986.
3/21
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an American far-right social media personality, Nicholas J. Fuentes (@NickJFuentes). He’s best-known for his white supremacist, misogynistic and antisemitic rhetoric, and for being the poster boy for the so-called incel movement.
1/17
Like so many from the white supremacist movement, Fuentes dropped out of university after his freshman year. He studied introductory international relations, which apparently made him a geopolitics expert. Nick was introduced to the white supremacist movement at an…
2/17
..early age - he took part in the infamous Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville,Virginia. In 2017, Fuentes launched his political talk show “America First”. Initially the show was aired on Trump-aligned Right Side Broadcasting Network, but it was dropped after the rally.
3/17
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss foreign malign influence operations during the 2024 US elections. As in 2016 and 2020, these recent elections were also a target of massive disinformation and hacking campaigns originating mostly from Russia and Iran.
1/17
First of all, my opinion is that these influence operations alone didn’t affect the elections so much, that they actually made a difference.
Unlike in 2016, Trump’s win over Harris was clear and these short-term campaigns didn’t really change that much this time.
2/17
Yet, many of these online campaigns attacked both Harris and Walz on various social media platforms. Especially Walz became a big target after his nomination, and many Russian efforts attempted to defame him.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce a social media personality and TV presenter, Raisa Blommestijn (@rblommestijn). She’s best-known for her far-right rhetorics, spreading conspiracy theories, and spreading anti-Ukraine and pro-Kremlin narratives on Dutch television.
1/24
Raisa studied philosophy of law at Leiden University. The faculty is best-known for one of its professors, Paul Cliteur. He’s a member of the pro-Kremlin party Forum voor Democratie (FvD), where he is one of the leading figures.Cliteur is also known for supervising the FvD…
2/24
…founder Thierry Baudet’s doctoral thesis, and can be considered a central figure in this Dutch “anti-establishment” movement. While studying at Leiden, Raise also met her best friend forever, Eva Vlaardingerbroek: