In today's #vatnik soup we'll travel back to Ireland, and get to a know an Irish politician and a MEP, Clare Daly. She strongly aligns herself with another Irish MEP, Mick Wallace. Like Wallace, Daly spends most of her energy appeasing Russia and China and criticizing the US.1/11
After several attempts, she was finally elected to Dáil Éireann in 2011 general election. In 2012, she was accused of misusing travel funds. In the same year, she refused to call for the resignation of her political ally, Mick Wallace.
2/11
Wallace's company forgot to pay 2,1 million EUR in VAT. After the incident, she resigned from the Socialist Party. After leaving, she requested a share of her old party's allowance so that she can fund her activities as an independent MP.
3/11
In Jun, 2013, after the G8 summit, she accused the Irish government of "prostituting" the country to US and Obama. She also called Obama a hypocrite and a war criminal for wanting to supply weapons for the Syrian rebels.
4/11
In 2019, Daly was elected as a MEP for the European Parliament. Soon after Daly was accused of nepotism for hiring her former husband as her assistant, forbidden by the rules of the European Parliament. He had previously also employed Mick Wallace's son.
5/11
In Sep, 2020, Daly's parliamentary assistant accused her of mistreatment and - ironically - having "no respect for workers' rights".
In Apr, 2021, Daly and Wallace visited the HQ of Iran-backed militia group Popular Mobilization Forces.
6/11
In Jun, 2021, Daly and Wallace travelled to work as unofficial election monitors in Venezuelan parliamentary election and Ecuadorian general election, without a mandate or permission from the EU.
7/11
When it comes to Russia, Daly's been busy. Daly and Wallace attempted to remove parts from the EP's report on MH17. She's attended protests supporting Algirdas Paleckis, a politician who was spying for Russia in Lithuania.
8/11
In Jan, 2022, Clare said that the Russian troops on the Ukrainian border were "clearly defensive". She also said that there is "no evidence that Russia has any desire to invade Ukraine".
9/11
She has voted against pretty much every pro-Ukraine vote in the European Parliament,including the declaration of Russia as a terrorist state. Her speeches are filled with whataboutism and accusations of "US imperalism". She's also spouted the regular "proxy war" accusations.10/11
Daly's also been featured a lot in Chinese state-sponsored TV, and she's been featured in more Chinese-language news articles than any other Irish person, with Mick Wallace coming in close second. In these interviews, she often praises China and Chinese politics.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the state of X in May 2025. Since its acquisition by Elon Musk, this platform has rapidly transformed into his personal political tool and a breeding ground for hate speech and disinformation.
1/22
Not everyone is following this shitshow as closely as I am, so I thought it would be good to write a summary of all the changes that have happened on this forum and outside of it. These changes have drastically changed how the platform operates and who gets “a voice” here.
2/22
Elon’s team has been tweaking the algorithm many times after the takeover. One of these tweaks happened already around Nov 2022, when the platform heavily suppressed the visibility of pro-Ukraine accounts. This change was then noticed & reported by many pro-Ukraine accounts.
3/22
In today’s 350th Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American comedian and podcaster, Dave Smith (@ComicDaveSmith). He’s best-known for his numerous appearances on the Joe Rogan Experience and for his unhinged takes on the Russo-Ukrainian War.
1/22
Smith has a massive megaphone - he’s a good friend of Joe Rogan, and he’s appeared on Joe’s podcast a whopping 16 times. Naturally, he’s also visited Lex Fridman’s podcast and frequently appears on Fox News’ Kennedy and The Greg Gutfeld Show.
2/22
Dave is part of the Kremlintarian section of the Libertarian Party called Mises Caucus. They took control of the party in May 2022, and with the help of their new leader, Angela McArdle, turned it into an extension of the MAGA Republicans:
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian journalist, Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin). He’s best-known for posing as a Russian dissident, while at the same time sneakily promoting the Kremlin’s narratives about the Russo-Ukrainian War.
1/20
On paper, Leonid doesn’t look like your typical Kremlin apologist - he’s written and worked for prestigious Western outlets like the BBC, the Guardian, and he’s even written some Lonely Planet guides for the Baltic countries!
2/20
But Ragozin’s public commentary often seems to walk a fine line: condemning the war while pushing narratives that shift blame, dilute responsibility, or quietly carry the same old imperial baggage Russia - or its opposition - has never truly forgotten.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll introduce a bank that is well-known in both Austria and Russia: Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and its Russian subsidiary, AO Raiffeisen. It is one of the few foreign banks that still does business in Russia.
1/21
Raiffeisen’s Russian branch was founded in 1996 and expanded dramatically after the acquisition of Russia’s Impexbank in 2006. A year later, it was the largest bank trading in foreign capital (seventh in size) in Russia.
2/21
In the early 2000s, Raiffeisen opened new branches in Russia, including in Saint Petersburg, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Krasnodar. After 2018, it focused on digital expansion and by 2021 it had a digital presence in more than 300 cities.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an Estonian lawyer, social activist, politician, and useful idiot for the Kremlin, Varro Vooglaid (@varrovooglaid). He’s best-known for promoting pro-Kremlin viewpoints under the guise of “traditional family values.”
1/20
Vooglaid has an academic background, which usually gives people plenty of credibility in the eyes of the Kremlin. Most of his academic career was spent at the University of Tartu, but he was also a researcher between 2007 and 2011 at the University of Helsinki.
2/20
Varro is likely the most influential vatnik in Estonia. His academic credentials provide him credibility, while his religious image appeals to “traditionalists” - many of whom oddly admire Russia and its imperialistic nature.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll introduce a Russian ultra-nationalist propagandist and “philosopher”, Aleksandr Dugin. He’s best-known for his blueprint on Russia’s geopolitical strategy and for his genocidal rhetoric towards Ukrainians.
1/17
In my first Dugin Soup, I covered the man’s 1997 book Foundations of Geopolitics — a manual for dismantling the West, breaking up NATO, and building a Russian-led empire. In it, he makes eerie “predictions” that seem to be playing out today.
2/17
Dugin called for destabilizing the US by exacerbating internal divisions. Fast forward to today: culture wars, conspiracy theories, far-right lunatics, and social media algorithms doing half the work for him.