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 #vatnik soup I'll introduce an ex-US Army man who switched sides & is now working for the propaganda ministry of Russia. His name is Douglas Macgregor and he's one of the well-known commentators on the Russo-Ukrainian War, making predictions that never come true.
1/16
First, let's give credit where credit is due: he was a great war commander during the 90's. His risky "blitzkrieg" style tactic led to some great victories in the Gulf War, and journalist Thomas E. Ricks described him as "one of the Army's leading thinkers on innovation".
2/16
His book "Breaking the Phalanx" called for a total overhaul of US army tactics and the head of Army US General Dennis Reimer passed copies of the book to other generals. His other book, "Transformation under Fire", was required reading for all officers in the Israeli Army.
In today's #vatnik soup I'll introduce one of the biggest disinformation and propaganda blogs on the web: The Grayzone (@TheGrayzoneNews). It's best known for misleading reporting, disinformation and love of authoritarian regimes and dictators.
1/13
Basically, if somewhere around the world there is an authoritarian leadership, Grayzone boys and girls will be quickly licking their boots. Same goes for genocide: if one is happening somewhere around the world, these "journalists" will deny it.
2/13
Grayzone was established by Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) after his visit to RT's 10th anniversary party in Moscow. Allegedly the trip was paid for by the Kremlin.The main contributors of the site at the moment are Blumenthal, Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate), ...
In today's #vatnik soup I'll talk about windows and heart attacks. Most of you have read about the mystery deaths of Russian businessmen, but let's look at them in more detail - some of them are quite strange.
1/10
But before we move on to the deaths, a little history lesson in ownership and wealth in Russia: at the time of the Czars there was a ruling nobility class called the boyars. They met in a group called Duma and adviced the Czar and the Princes.
2/10
After the Time of Troubles ("smuta"), boyars lost their possessions and properties to the Czar, and were granted a "temporary right of possession". Basically, everything they owned could be taken away from them at anytime by the Czar and/or the state.
In today's #vatnik soup I'll introduce Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov.He has worked in this position since 2000. This means that he's been covering up events such as poisonings of Litvinenko, the Skripals & Navalny, as well as the 2nd Chechen War & Russo-Ukrainian War.1/10
Peskov is best known for one incredible ability - whenever he says something, the exact opposite happens. On 15th, Feb, 2022, Peskov stated that allegiations about Russia invading Ukraine were "empty and unfounded" and called it "Western hysteria".
2/10
He also declared that "Russia has never attacked any other nation" and that Russia would be "the last country in Europe to think about starting a war".
He concluded that "we're living in days of fakes and lies". That's the only truth that came out of his mouth that day.
In today's #vatnik soup I'll introduce the current Deputy Minister of Defense in Russia, Timur Ivanov. Actually, I'll talk more about his wife and a socialite, Svetlana Zakharova, whose 8000 leaked e-mails were carefully inspected by Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.
1/12
Ivanov is an engineer for the war. He's responsible for building military barracks, cadet corps, submarine bases and military airfields, as well as hospitals and kindergartens.
He is also responsible for many rebuilding efforts in Mariupol.
2/12
Svetlana have mostly been living off his husband(s), and all of her personal business ventures have gone bankrupt. She's mostly known for appearing on tabloid covers and being a TV presenter. She loves glamour and lavish life, including 5-star hotels, yachts and shopping.
In today's #vatnik soup,I'll discuss a man who's small in every sense. He's the ex-president of Russia,Dmitry Medvedev.He's currently working as the deputy chairman of the Security Council, but he's best known for his aggressive social media behavior and sucking up to Putin. 1/12
During his presidency, Dmitry was doing a lot of changes and signaled about a possibility of a more liberal Russia.
Naturally, this was mostly a ruse and his presidency was only granted to him by Putin so that he could be re-elected later on.
2/12
For the 2008 presidential election, everyone expected Putin to support a silovik candidate such as Viktor Zubkov or Sergei Ivanov, but to everyone's surprise he introduced Medvedev as his preferred successor. Putin's endorsement caused Dmitry's popularity to skyrocket.