In today's #vatnik soup I'll be introducing a British reality TV star and a propagandist, George Galloway (@georgegalloway). He's best known for his appearance on Big Brother, affiliation with Russia state-media & his love for various authoritarian regimes around the globe.
1/15
Galloway has been a MP in 1987-2010 and in 2012-2015. He's currently leading the Workers Party of Britain, a party which has never held any elected presentation at any level of government.
George also doesn't like it when he's connected to Russia-state affiliated medias.
2/15
George has been a fan boy of several totalitarian leaders since the 90's. In 1994, during his unauthorized trip to Iraq, he met with Saddam Hussein and ended up his speech with a famous statement: "Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability."
3/15
After Saddam's demise, Galloway defended Iraqi suicide bombers who targeted Western forces, calling them "martyrs". His political views are on the left & in 2002 interview he said that the collapse of the USSR was "the biggest catastrophe of my life". He's also stated that.. 4/15
... "I am a Socialist who doesn't like Capitalism and who likes Imperialism less. I am a revolutionary and I support the armed struggle where there is no alternative."
For being a socialist, Georgie sure loves money and luxury.
5/15
In 1986 he was claimed to have spent 20 000£ while "enjoying a life of luxury". He was later cleared of these accusations, but he did end up repaying 1720£ in contested expenses. While working for Press TV, Al-Mayadeen & RT, he had spent 70 000£ in flights and hotels.
6/15
Galloway was also a founder of the Mariam Appeal, a political campaign that provided medical assistance to the people of Iraq. Galloway faced several investigations related to the campaign, for example using the donation money for his personal travel expenses.
7/15
The campaign raised significant funds but was never registered as a charity organization. A 2017 claim stated that George's then wife Abu-Zayyad had received 84 000£ in salary and expenses without a contract of employment.
8/15
The Yorkhill NHS Trust received 54 000£ that was allegedly supposed to be spent on the leukemia treatment for Mariam Hamza. Galloway and his then wife, the trustees of the organization, claimed 3000£ in travel expenses.
9/15
Galloway has worked for several state-affiliated medias, including the Iran-state controlled Press TV, the Al Mayadeen TV station that's connected to both Iran and Assad's Syria, and of course the Kremlin-controlled RT. He's shown support for Putin, al-Assad and Hussein.
10/15
During 2014, Galloway had earned at least 293 450£ from his TV appearances, and between 2013 and 2015 George was paid 100 000£ for his appearances on RT - the highest salary to any British politician working for this Russia-affiliated media.
11/15
He presented his "The Mother of All Talk Shows" on RT UK, until it was shut down following the Russia's genocidal invasion of Ukraine in Feb, 2022.
George is strongly in the "NATO started the war in Ukraine" corner, and basically blames the US for the whole conflict.
12/15
This view lines him up with the Grayzone bloggers, Mick Wallace and Clare Daly, and they're organizing a "NO2NATONO2WAR" event in London in Feb, 2023. Their first venue, St Pancras New Church cancelled their booking because of the overwhelming criticism.
13/15
On the 14th of Feb, 2022, he tweeted that Russia is not about to invade Ukraine, and ridiculed people who claimed this. He's also called Zelenskyy a "cross-dressing coke-sniffing porn-actor" that's been turned into "Spartacus".
14/15
He's shared the idea that the Zelenskyy "government has given weapons to criminals who are robbing and raping".In his latest talk show, he interviewed pro-Russian blogger Max Blumenthal, a "political analyst" and a propagandist Garland Nixon, and propagandist Gonzalo Lira.
15/15
Afterword: I wanted to add some extra spice to today's soup, and share a little story about George and a program called Oil-For-Food. This program allowed economically sanctioned Iraq to sell limited amounts of oil in exchange for vital goods for the Iraqis. 1/4
The program was heavily abused, and these abuses included smuggling of oil and use of surcharges. Galloway was interviewed in the US Senate for his involvement. Several pro-Russian and Syrian accounts spread a video of George's testimony from this hearing, praising it,...
2/4
... and for example @sahouraxo called it "one of the greatest speeches in history". The Senate's report disagreed with this statement, and they concluded that Galloway "knowingly made false or misleading statements under oath".
3/4
Bank statements also showed that his wife Abu-Zayyad had received a payment of 150 000USD from the proceeds of the program. The report also stated that Galloway's Mariam Appeal had received 446 000 USD via the program. For some reason these vatniks always leave this part out. 4/4
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In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Serbian academic, Ratko Ristić. He’s best known for engaging in pro-Kremlin, ultranationalist politics and propaganda while undermining business ties between Serbia and the EU.
1/18
Serbia, along with Belarus, remains Russia’s staunchest European ally amid its aggression against Ukraine. Not only have they refused to impose sanctions, but Serbia has also become a regional disinformation hub, destabilizing the wider region.
2/18
Beyond foreign malign influence, Serbia’s nationalist-revisionist regime – rooted in the 1990s – has aligned with Russia’s aggressive, anti-liberal nationalist bloc. Serbian far-right groups are also well-known supporters of Russian imperialism.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Oleg Bessedin, a videoblogger and Russia’s favorite mouthpiece in Estonia. Through social media, online groups, and media networks, Bessedin has played an active role in pushing pro-Kremlin narratives to divide Estonian society.
1/13
Oleg is a content creator and businessman with strong ties to pro-Kremlin networks. He runs multiple Facebook groups and media platforms that regularly share Russian state propaganda. Estonia’s Internal Security Service (KAPO) has flagged his platforms as disinfo hubs.
2/13
Bessedin presents himself as an independent journalist, but his content is heavily biased in favor of Russian narratives. He portrays Estonia and the West as corrupt, aggressive, and anti-Russian while defending Russia’s actions on the world stage.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the Russian shadow fleet: a network of ships that operate in secret, dodge sanctions, smuggle oil, and undermine the security of Europe’s seas while keeping Putin’s war machine running.
1/15
To understand the shadow fleet, let’s rewind to 2022. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the West responded with economic shockwaves. Sanctions were imposed, Russian oil was banned, and a price cap was introduced. For Russia, this was a disaster.
2/15
But Putin is well-familiar with economic warfare. Russia quickly created a “shadow fleet” – an armada of rusting oil tankers with false identities and forged paperwork,and illegal trade routes designed to dodge Western sanctions and keep the rubles flowing.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce the American-British social media personalities, Tristan and Andrew Tate (@tatethetalisman and @cobratate).
They’re best-known for their social media grifts and allegations of human trafficking and rape.
1/22
The history of the Tate brothers was introduced thoroughly in my original Vatnik Soup thread, but since then so much has happened that this pathetic duo needs another review. The soup will go through a lot of the evidence and videos in which the Tates incriminate themselves.
2/22
The Tates became (relatively) rich through their webcam (pimping?) businesses and self-help courses targeted at young, desperate (incel?) men. At some point, they had up to 75 women working for them, and the brothers later admitted that the business was a “total scam”.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Russia’s main narratives and explain how they are being spread online by Russian operatives and MAGA Republicans. After three years of war, Russia still relies on old narratives, now amplified by the Trump administration.
1/25
Throughout the years – or even decades – Russia’s narratives against the West have remained largely the same. Many of them date back to the Cold War era, when the KGB and CIA were bitter enemies. But since then, the media landscape has drastically changed.
2/25
Russian propaganda and disinformation revolves around four main themes:
1) Russia is the victim, 2) Historical revisionism, 3) The “decadent West” is collapsing, 4) The CIA and/or “evil Anglo-Saxons” are behind every revolution & anti-Kremlin activity.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a former Ukrainian politician and president, Viktor Yanukovych. He’s best known for selling his country to Russia, trying to turn it into an authoritarian state, and eventually fleeing to Moscow once his plan failed.
1/22
Now that Russia and the US are planning to replace president Zelenskyy with someone who’s more willing to sell the country to them (most probably Viktor Medvedchuk or one of his cronies), it’s a good time to remind people how Yanukovych and Putin almost took over Ukraine.
2/22
Yanukovych’s first attempt at power came in 2004, when he “won” the Ukrainian presidential election through massive fraud. The rigged vote sparked the Orange Revolution, a wave of protests that forced the election to be re-run. His opponent, pro-Western candidate…