In today's #vatnik soup I'll be introducing a Portuguese "independent journalist" and a politician, Bruno Carvalho. Carvalho is part of the gang that does live - and often staged - reports from Russian-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.
1/17
Bruno's political affiliation is with the communists, and he was elected to city hall of Amadora as a member of the communist party CDU/PCP. Allegedly he joined the party at a very young age, as there's video footage of a 19-year old Bruno being interviewed about politics.
2/17
Perhaps due to his political background, Carvalho is all about them Ukrainian nazis. He calls the Azov Regiment "the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion", being consistent with the views of his party, PCP.
3/17
In May, 2022, he published an image on Telegram of "Mein Kampf", a book written by Austrian politician Adolf Hitler, on top of a Ukrainian flag. He claimed that his "fellow journalist" found the book inside an empty house in Rubizhne.
4/17
Interestingly, he also claimed that it was the ONLY book found inside the house, suggesting that someone really loves Hitler over there in Luhansk Oblast.
Carvalho stated that no one else was present when they entered the apartment, but a video published by the Russians...
5/17
suggest otherwise: it clearly shows that he entered the flat together with Russian soldiers.
He's also interviewed people who were "robbed" by the Ukrainian forces, and denied all sorts of war crimes conducted by the Russian forces, including mass graves in Mariupol.
6/17
In addition, this heroic "independent journalist" has reported on Ukrainian Tochka-U missiles that, based on Bruno, were used to attack civilians in the puppet states of DPR & LPR. During the fake referendums, Carvalho claimed on a news broadcast that "Donetsk is a country".
7/17
Carvalho has also been a target of criticism in Portugal. For example, João Galamba, Minister of Infrastructure has mocked him and the content he's shared on Twitter. Carvalho considered this a serious attack against his journalistic integrity and demanded an intervention... 8/17
... from the Journalist's Union.
Now here comes the interesting part: Bruno Carvalho is a contributor for @cnnportugal. On their website, you can see various video reports from Bruno with titles like ...
9/17
... "It's very difficult to justify a narrative that says it's the Russians who are bombing themselves" and "I counted at least 50 rockets in this zone alone: this is the result of hours of consecutive attacks in Donetsk". You know, variations of the "genocide in Donbas"...
10/17
... narrative that Russia has been pushing since 2014. It is necessary to have reports from both sides of the conflict, but the other side shouldn't be covered by "journalists" who have no respect towards journalistic ethics.
11/17
Former MEP Ana Gomes asked the CNN about the issue,but neither @CNN or @cnnportugal responded to her.Carvalho's shared a video of Zelenskyy with subtitles that turned out the be fake. He added a "correction" that suggested that the "opinions are divided" on what Zelenskyy...12/17
...actually said, which of course isn't true. As of today, Bruno's tweet is still available.
Carvalho's been also going on about the Minsk agreement. He's stated that Zelenskyy should've complied with the Minsk agreements instead of pushing for NATO.
13/17
But as many of you know, Russia never complied with the Minsk agreement, either. I'm by no means expert on this topic, but please read this fantastic analysis by @neil_abrams for more information:
Russia has a huge propaganda network in Latin America, and news channels like RT Español and Sputnik Mundo are very popular there. Portuguese is an official language in Brazil, a country with population of over 200 million people.
15/17
Yet it is kind of a "blind spot" for the Western analysts focusing on Russian propaganda and disinformation. "Journalists" like Carvalho have large presence in these areas, and their pro-Russian narratives are often published without any criticism.
16/17
In addition, contributing for a prestigious and well-known brand such as CNN, Bruno's considered as a reliable source of information.
Thank you for the sous-chef @Cbritinha and the rest of the Portuguese team for helping me to prepare this soup.
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.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Russian propagandist Sergei Tsaulin. He’s best-known for spreading pro-Kremlin narratives in Estonia, fleeing to Russia after breaking several laws in Estonia, and almost getting blown up by a bomb in St. Petersburg.
1/17
For years, Tsaulin was known for organizing marches and events glorifying the Soviet Union. Under the excuse of “remembering history,” these events were nothing more than Kremlin propaganda, wrapped in a red flag with a hammer and sickle.
2/17
One of his most infamous events was the “Immortal Regiment” march, held every 9th of May, where people carried portraits of Soviet soldiers. These marches are used by Russia to push the idea that the Baltics owe their existence to the Soviets.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a podcaster and conspiracy theorist, Joe Rogan (@joerogan). He’s best-known for launching the biggest podcast in the world, promoting various conspiracy theories, his support for Donald Trump and his anti-Ukraine rhetoric.
1/22
Joe Rogan started as a stand-up comedian in the 1980s, found fame on NewsRadio, and became a household name with Fear Factor. But his biggest impact came in 2009 when he launched The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), one of the first major podcasts.
2/22
JRE started as casual but deep conversations, often covering countercultural topics like psychedelics, MMA & hunting. Joe’s podcasting style is largely non-confrontational, often allowing his guests to share their views without significant pushback or critical questioning.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce KOOS party leader and Estonian crypto businessman Oleg Ivanov. He’s best known for running shady businesses, spreading Russian false narratives in Estonia, and participating in the pro-Kremlin political party KOOS.
1/18
As a talented youngster, Oleg learned Estonian almost flawlessly, was a promising karate athlete, and landed a job at a law firm at just 20. He caught the eye of Estonian fuel entrepreneur Endel Siff, who quickly took him under his wing.
2/18
Oleg’s father, Vladimir Ivanov, was a longtime politician from the Russian-funded United People’s Party of Estonia. His career at the town hall ended abruptly when he was caught drunk at work. After that, he went into business with his son, Oleg.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about the takeover of social media by illiberal, populist influencers. For the last ten years, social media has been dominated by these voices and it is one of the main reasons for the political rise of people like Trump and Orban.
1/25
“Illiberal populists” like Trump reject democratic norms while claiming to speak for “the people.” They centralize power, attack institutions, and push nationalism over rights. Elections exist, but checks & balances erode. This is democracy in name, autocracy in action.
2/25
The media landscape has changed drastically over the past two decades. The Internet and social media have changed how we interact online & how we consume media,but it has also become our main source of news. In many ways,social media companies have control over information.