Post

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
Click again on or Share Via icon
Click on Copy Link to Tweet
Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
More info at Twitter Help

Pekka Kallioniemi

@P_Kallioniemi

Jan 18, 2023 • 13 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X

Scrolly

In today's #vatnik soup, I'll introduce an American propagandist & a Youtuber, Patrick Lancaster.He's a former sailor turned pro-Russian disinfo spreader. Ironically,his videos from the Russia-occupied areas have exposed Russian war crimes and sensitive military information.
1/13

In June 2001 he joined the US Navy, working on the USS Kitty Hawk as a cryptologic technician. He apparently also held a top-secret clearance. After leaving the Navy, he worked as a real-estate agent until he moved to Berlin and started working as a journalist around 2011.

2/13

Patrick calls himself a "independent, crowd-funded journalist", which means that he's mostly paid for by the Kremlin. He's usually the only English-speaking reporter in Russia-controlled territories, and often travels around with Russian troops.

3/13

David Ferris,an American filmmaker met Lancaster in Donetsk in 2014 & later commented that "I remember [Patrick] sort of being compromised from the beginning". Cyber Front Z,a troll farm established in 2022,promotes Patrick's videos and calls for people to support his work.

4/13

He arrived to Ukraine in 2014 to cover the Euromaidan revolution. In the same year,he converted to Orthodox Christianity,settled in the Donetsk Oblast & met a woman who'd later become his wife. Their wedding was covered by several Russian news organizations, including Zvezda.5/13

At some point Lancaster worked as a cameraman for another propagandist, Graham Phillips. By 2022, Patrick had fallen out with Graham, & Patrick described Graham as a "harmless clown who runs around in a panic, like a rabbit in headlights spouting phrases in broken English".

6/13

Graham later retaliated, calling Lancaster an "illiterate, grifting charlatan, with a journalistic acumen and ability lower than a potted plant."

His Youtube channel gained a huge boost in subscriptions after he started reporting on the war, helping him boost his channel...
7/13

...from mere 50 000 followers to over half a million.

Patrick is one of the "dirty dozen" of the most prominent Western propagandists that spread pro-Russian propaganda by masquerading as "independent journalists". Patrick crowdsources his work, and has over 1000 ...

8/13

... paying subscribers on Patreon, each paying anything between 3 and 200 USD. By Jun, 2022, his Buy Me A Coffee account had collected over 77 000 USD. He also sells his footage to Kremlin-backed medias, probably gaining him a hefty extra pile of money.

9/13

Lancaster has worked for many Kremlin-controlled state medias,including RT, Ruptly & Zvezda, while covering the war in Donbas. In 2022,his only international outlet was the InfoWars. Patrick's connected to Eric Kraus,a pro-Russian French businessman who's close to Patrushev.10/13

He's been involved in various false flag operations, which try to put the blame of "terrorist acts" and "war crimes" on the Ukrainian soldiers.

He published a staged video of a "pre-war provocation" from Donbas, in which IED had allegedly killed one of the ...

11/13

... military commanders of the made-up state of Donetsk People's Republic. Explosive weapons expert and a forensic pathologist concluded that the whole scene was staged and the bodies were actually cadavers with evident autopsy marks on their skulls.

12/13

https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1614504101106122759

Research by Bellingcat also used one of Lancaster's videos to identify a Russian soldier suspected of torturing and castrating a Ukrainian POW: bellingcat.com/news/2022/08/0…

Graham Phillips:

https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1614504101106122759

Nikolai Patrushev:

https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1594238136275668994

13/13

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @P_Kallioniemi

Pekka Kallioniemi

@P_Kallioniemi

Jul 6

In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’m going to talk about… Vatnik Soup! As some of you know, we also have a website where you can find every soup ever published. The site also has other useful resources, making it the most comprehensive resource on Russian disinformation & vatniks.

1/15

Unfortunately, Elon has flagged the website as malware, as he might not be very happy about the soups I wrote about him - so far, they have garnered over 60 million views on X/Twitter.

The “freedom of speech” spokesperson doesn’t seem too keen on free speech, after all.

2/15

The heart & soul of the website is of course the soups page. There you can find all 360+ soups, which can be sorted chronologically, by popularity, etc. You can also search for soups by title or even in the soup text:

3/15

vatniksoup.com/en/soups/

Read 15 tweets

Pekka Kallioniemi

@P_Kallioniemi

Jul 1

In today’s Wumao Soup, I’ll introduce how and where the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) online propaganda and influence operations work. Due to China’s massive population and advances in AI, CCP-aligned online content has become increasingly visible.

1/20

Like Russia’s troll farms, China has its own troll army: the “50 Cent Party” or “Wumao” refers to state-linked online commentators who are reportedly paid ¥0.50 per post to steer discussions away from criticism and amplify CCP narratives on social media.

2/20

https://x.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1654061488040992774

Back in 2017, a research paper estimated that the Wumao produced almost 500 million fabricated comments annually to distract readers and shift topics. In that sense, Wumao operates very similarly to the Russian “Firehose of Falsehood” model:

3/20

https://x.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1654061488040992774

Read 21 tweets

Pekka Kallioniemi

@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.

1/24

https://x.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1901967581038186716

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

https://x.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1901967581038186716

https://x.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1902351629258547584

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

https://x.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1902351629258547584

Read 26 tweets

Pekka Kallioniemi

@P_Kallioniemi

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.

1/21

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.

2/21

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.

3/21

Read 22 tweets

Pekka Kallioniemi

@P_Kallioniemi

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

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

…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

Read 23 tweets

Pekka Kallioniemi

@P_Kallioniemi

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