In today's #vatnik soup I'm going to introduce a Finnish cosmologist, human rights activist and a board member of @amnestyfinland, Syksy Räsänen (@SyksyRasanen). His stance - at least on Twitter - so far on the Russo-Ukrainian War has been heavily anti-Ukrainian.
1/15
Räsänen is a internationally recognized cosmologist. He received his PhD from theoretical physics in 2002, and has worked in several prominent universities and organizations, such as Oxford University, CERN and University of Geneva.
2/15
Syksy was also writing for "Searching for Cosmos" blog ("Maailmankaikkeutta etsimässä" in Finnish) that appeared in a Finnish magazine Science ("Tiede" in Finnish), but stopped because he didn't want to share the platform with Marko Hamilo, whose writings he thought to ...
3/15
... be right-wing populism. Based on Syksy, he didn't want his fact-based writings to deceive people to think that Hamilo's political views presented in the blog were also scientific.
Like so many others, Räsänen says that he was "awakened" by the writings of Noam Chomsky.
4/15
Räsänen is the chair ICAHD Finland, a "Finnish branch of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, spreading info about the current situation in Israel/Palestine and Finland's role in it".
5/15
Based on his retweets, Syksy's views seem to be siding with, for example, the Grayzone bloggers and Michael Tracey - their main focus is on US imperialism and at the same time they ignore the imperialistic endeavors of Russia (or Syria, for that matter).
6/15
Syksy has joined Aaron Maté and Caitlin Johnstone in their efforts to downplay the crimes of the al-Assad regiment in Syria. He has criticized the White Helmets, a volunteer organization that do medical evacuation and urban search and rescue missions, and ...
7/15
... referred to them being a "US gov't co-founded/funded organization pushing for US military escalation".
He retweeted and promoted a story written by Max Blumenthal on the Grayzone blog about how parts of the 86-page report "If the Dead Could Speak: Mass Deaths and ...
8/15
... Torture in Syria’s Detention Facilities" and the following sanctions were actually "a highly deceptive intelligence operation orchestrated by the US and Qatari governments".
9/15
In his article, Blumenthal also called the report's origins "dubious". Amnesty International called for the arrest of top Syrian regime for these crimes and they were condemned worldwide, also by the Human Rights Watch.
10/15
Räsänen has suggested that there was a "civil war in Ukraine during 2014-2022". He's also focused on criticizing the Azov Battalion/Regiment as neo-nazis, shared The Grayzone's article about downplaying Putin's/Russia's influence, downplayed Russiagate and other ...
11/15
... Russian information operations and spread Maté's version of the OPCW inspections about chemical weapon attacks in Douma.
I wanted to add a little personal rant at the end, so here goes:
12/15
Russia staged a separatist movement in East of Ukraine already back in 2014, and they were the force behind the initial hostilities. Russia invaded Ukraine illegally and have committed atrocities such as murders, torture, rape, abduction of children, castrations ...
13/15
... and bombing of civilian targets. In Kherson, they founded a children's torture chamber. Azov Battalion, now called Azov Regiment, has far-right roots which have been allegedly eradicated. Also, there are several prominent neo-nazi figures like ...
14/15
... Aleksei Milchakov fighting in the Russian/Wagner ranks. Yet, for some reason, well-known Amnesty board members like Syksy do not talk about these issues, war crimes and human rights violations. Isn't that what Amnesty's should be about?
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explain the Alaska Fiasco and how it marks the peak of Trump’s two-year betrayal of Ukraine. What was sold as “peace talks” turned into a spectacle of weakness, humiliation, empty promises, and photo-ops that handed Putin exactly what he wanted.
1/24
Let’s start with the obvious: Trump desperately wants the gold medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, mainly because Obama got one. That’s why he’s now LARPing as a “peace maker” in every conflict: Israel-Gaza, Azerbaijan-Armenia, India-Pakistan, and of course Ukraine-Russia.
2/24
Another theory is that Putin holds kompromat — compromising material such as videos or documents — that would put Trump in an extremely bad light. Some have suggested it could be tied to the Epstein files or Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about engagement farming: a cynical social media tactic to rack up likes, shares, and comments. From rage farming to AI-powered outrage factories, engagement farming is reshaping online discourse and turning division into profit.
1/23
Engagement farming is a social media tactic aimed at getting maximum likes, shares, and comments, with truth being optional. It thrives on provocative texts, images, or videos designed to spark strong reactions, boost reach, and turn online outrage into clicks and cash.
2/23
One subset of engagement farming is rage farming: a tactic built to provoke strong negative emotions through outrageous or inflammatory claims. By triggering anger or moral outrage, these posts often generate 100s or even 1,000s of heated comments, amplifying their reach.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the autocratic concept of “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars”: the idea that the leader is wise and just, but constantly sabotaged by corrupt advisors. This narrative shields the ruler from blame, and it’s used by both Putin and Trump today.
1/20
The phrase “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars” (Царь хороший, бояре плохие), also known as Naïve Monarchism, refers to a long-standing idea in Russian political culture: the ruler is good and benevolent, but his advisors are corrupt, incompetent and responsible for all failures.
2/20
From this perception, any positive action taken by the government is viewed as being an accomplishment of the benevolent leader, whereas any negative one is viewed as being caused by lower-level bureaucrats or “boyars”, without the approval of the leader.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian politician and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Kiriyenko. He’s best known for running both domestic and foreign disinformation and propaganda operations for the Kremlin.
1/20
On paper, and in photos, Kiriyenko is just as boring as most of the Kremlin’s “political technologists”: between 2005-2016 he headed the Rosatom nuclear energy company, but later played a leading role in the governance of Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine.
2/20
What is a political technologist? In Russia, they’re spin doctors & propaganda architects who shape opinion, control narratives, and manage elections — often by faking opposition, staging events, and spreading disinfo to maintain Putin’s power and the illusion of democracy.
Let me show you how a Pakistani (or Indian, they're usually the same) AI slop farm/scam operates. The account @designbonsay is a prime example: a relatively attractive, AI-generated profile picture and a ChatGPT-style profile description are the first red flags.
1/5
The profile's posts are just generic engagement farming, usually using AI-generated photos of celebrities or relatively attractive women.
These posts are often emotionally loaded and ask the user to interact with them ("like and share if you agree!").
2/5
Then there's the monetization part. This particular account sells "pencil art", which again are just AI-generated slop.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American lawyer and politician, Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee). He’s best-known for opposing the aid to Ukraine, undermining NATO by calling the US to withdraw from the alliance, and for fighting with a bunch of braindead dogs online.
1/21
Like many of the most vile vatniks out there, “Based Mike” is a lawyer by profession. He hails from the holy land of Mormons, Utah, where he faces little political competition, allowing him to make the most outrageous claims online without risking his Senate seat.
2/21
Before becoming a senator, Mike fought to let a nuclear waste company dump Italian radioactive waste in Utah, arguing it was fine if they just diluted it. The state said no, the public revolted, and the courts told poor Mikey to sit down.