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 and our “Degenerate Russia” series, we’ll discuss what kind of lowlifes sink low enough to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, lie on Russia’s behalf, promote Russian BS, and even gather in Moscow or St. Petersburg to help the Kremlin wage its war.
1/21
For over a decade now and as part of their “firehose of falsehood” propaganda strategy, Russia has been spreading false narratives targeting right-wing/conservative audiences, portraying Russia as a bastion of Christian, traditional, family values.
Russia is also normalizing relations with the Taliban, doesn’t recognize Hamas or Hezbollah as terrorist groups, and deepens its military partnership with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the regime that legalized pedophilia through child marriage.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we introduce Vincent Bolloré, a French billionaire and media tycoon. He’s best known for building a powerful media empire and for reshaping editorial lines across French media and publishing, pushing them toward far-right and pro-Kremlin positions.
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Born in 1952 in Boulogne-Billancourt to a family of industrialists, Vincent studied law at Paris Nanterre University. He took over the family business and turned it into a sprawling conglomerate spanning logistics, port infrastructure in Africa, advertising, and media.
2/25
Bolloré’s African logistics empire also became the subject of a long-running corruption investigation in France. Legal proceedings against Vincent Bolloré personally are still ongoing, with a trial planned in December, after a judge refused to approve a plea deal.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll introduce an American conspiracy theorist, podcaster & antisemite, Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO). She’s best known for spreading conspiracy theories, attacking Ukraine, promoting pro-Kremlin BS, and becoming a favorite of Russian state media.
1/21
Candace started her career as an intern at Vogue magazine but later moved into political commentary. Her early career focused on criticizing Republicans, calling their antics “bat-shit crazy.” In 2016, her blog even published an article about Trump’s penis size.
2/21
That same year, she launched a doxxing website called SocialAutopsy. In response, people began posting Owens’s personal information online. During the controversy, she gained support from figures such as @Nero and @Cernovich. And just like that, she became a conservative.
In today’s Wumao Soup, we’ll talk about Taiwan, the sovereign country the Chinese Communist Party insists is not a country, but constantly threatens to invade just like a country, while the “antiwar” crowd is eagerly encouraging them to start that war, endangering millions.
1/20
Taiwan is a country, a state. It has its own territory, government, army, police, courts, taxes, passports and elections, just like any other country.
The only difference? Its neighbor, imperialist China, wants to invade it, and other countries try to please the big bully.
2/20
Taiwan’s official name is the Republic of China, or ROC. The ROC was founded in 1912, after the fall of the Qing dynasty. The People’s Republic of China, or PRC, was founded by democidal dictator Mao Zedong and his communist party, in 1949, after fighting against the ROC.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll introduce Russian propaganda operations around military targets like Starobilsk. For over a decade, the Kremlin has used similar strategies, combining crisis actors, “independent journalists” and fabricated evidence.
1/13
First, let’s go back to 2014. Russia funded separatist groups and sent its mercenaries to Donbas, which led to the creation of two puppet states, Donetsk and Luhansk, governed by Russian propagandists and soldiers like Igor Girkin.
The fake genocide was touted as one of the main reasons for Russia’s war during the early stages of the full-scale invasion, and the claim was made even by Putin himself. Before his mutiny, late Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said that all this was fabricated bullshit.
In this 9th Debunk of the Day, we’ll discuss “legitimate military targets”. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine, with no declaration of war, hiding behind a “special military operation”. Yet vatniks & useful idiots pretend Russia has any legitimate or lawful targets in Ukraine.
1/8
Russia started the war in 2014 by seizing Crimea with unmarked soldiers, “little green men”. Russians have been waging an undeclared, illegal war with endless war crimes ever since, whether it’s kidnapping of Ukrainian children with genocidal intent…
… the concentration camps for Ukrainians under occupation, conscripting Ukrainians from occupied territories, or the terrorist, deliberate bombing of civilians, including their infamous “double tap” strikes.
So no, Russia does not have any “legitimate targets” in Ukraine.