Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Jan 1, 2023 13 tweets 8 min read Read on X
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), ...

3/13
... Kit Klarenberg (@KitKlarenberg), Max's partner Anya Parampil (@anyaparampil) and Alex Rubinstein (@RealAlexRubi).

Most profilic Grayzone bloggers have either visited RT/Sputnik shows as a guest or worked for them in the past.

4/13
Incidentally, their narratives are often in line with Russia's disinformation campaigns. Regarding the war in Ukraine, they have falsely reported that Ukraine uses civilians as human shields & that Mariupol theater massacre was staged by the Azov Battalion to provoke NATO.

5/13
Grayzone bloggers have been a target of harsh criticism in the past. For example, Nerma Jelacic (@NermaJelacic) described them as "a Kremlin-connected online outlet that pushes pro-Russian conspiracy theories and genocide denial."

6/13
Academic writer Gilbert Achcar described Grayzone beautifully by saying that it's "pro-Putin, pro-Assad 'left-wing' propaganda combined with gutter journalism".Grayzone's invitation to Web Summit 2022 held in Lisbon, Portugal, was cancelled which made the bloggers pretty mad.7/13
The blog & especially Max has also taken a stance on Chinese abuse against the Uyghur Muslim minority:
Between Dec 2019 & Feb 2021, CCP-controlled media cited Max's blog at least 313 times. Blumenthal has also appeared on China's TV news channel CGTN.
8/13
They've also attacked NAFO, Georgian Legion and their crowdfunding efforts, suggesting that the rapid growth of NAFO was not organic. People actually tend to side with the defending country whose civilians are being murdered, @RealAlexRubi! Alex also doxxed a NAFO key figure.9/13
Maté likes to talk write about the Minsk agreement and "CIA-funded Ukrainian neo-nazis"

For example political scientist Neil Abrams (@neil_abrams) has debunked many of Aaron Maté's claims on Twitter, you can see a comprehensive list of them here:

10/13
The thing about all of these bloggers is that when you ask them about atrocities done by Russia, Nicaraguan government, al-Assad regime, China or other authoritarian regime, they fall silent.

11/13
They will not discuss these topics at all, and that's how you know that they're not journalists that study matters objectively, but rather propagandist bloggers who side with dictators and murderers.

12/13
An organization funding Al-Assad apologists rewarded some Grayzone bloggers back in 2019: bellingcat.com/news/2019/09/3…

By the way Max, who funds your little blog?

Related soups:
Max Blumenthal:

13/13

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More from @P_Kallioniemi

Jun 26
In today’s Vatnik Soup and the “Degenerate Russia” series, I’ll show you the brutal reality of Russian war crimes, in particular the horrific tortures and sexual abuses of children, women and men.

Buckle up, this one is not for the faint-hearted.

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For over a decade now and as part of their “firehose of falsehood” propaganda strategy, Russia has been spreading false narratives targeted at right-wing/conservative audiences, portraying russia as a bastion of Christian, traditional,family values.

2/24

In the previous “degenerate Russia” series we discussed Russia’s insanely high divorce rates, rampant domestic violence, high murder rates, thriving neo-Nazi culture, corruption of the Orthodox Church, and their massive demographic problem:

3/24

Read 26 tweets
Jun 24
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explore how Russia is working with Iran, and how the recent Israel–US strikes on Iran could affect the war in Ukraine. Iran has been one of Russia’s key allies in their genocidal war, but in reality the partnership is deeply one-sided.

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Historically, Russia/USSR has been involved in numerous wars in the Middle East, invading Afghanistan for nearly a decade and desperately trying to keep Syria’s authoritarian leader, al-Assad, in power before his eventual downfall.

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While initially supportive of Israel, the Soviet Union quickly pivoted to backing its enemies, fueling antisemitism, terrorism, and chaos in an already tense region. At times, this meant near-open war, like when Soviet Air Force MiG-21s were shot down by Israel over Egypt.

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Read 22 tweets
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.

1/22 Image
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,…

2/22 Image
…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.

3/22 Image
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.

1/10
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.

2/10
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.

3/10
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.

1/20
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

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