In today's #vatnik soup I'll tell the tragicomedic saga of a Finnish political party, Valta Kuuluu Kansalle ("Power to the People"; VKK). It is one of the two parties with pro-Russian stances (the other is Vapauden liitto, "The League for Freedom").
1/15
Most of the people involved in these parties were ridiculed even before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but after Feb, 2022, after they've come out with their true pro-Russian colors, they are basically the laughingstock of the whole country.
2/15
This we can attribute to three things: 1) high level of digital literacy in education, 2) our recent history and wars we had with the Soviet Union, and 3) these people are generally simpletons whose projects will almost always implode because of internal conflicts.
3/15
VKK actually has a member in the Finnish Parliament at the moment: Ano Turtiainen. Turtiainen was elected to the Parliament from the True Finns party, but was discharged from the party after sharing a racist meme. Initially VKK had only one promoted theme, he fought...
4/15
...against the COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restriction, but later Ano started praising Russia and emphasizing the importance of collaboration between Finland and Russia. In addition, the party members have promoted "anti-globalist" and euro-skeptic views and ...
5/15
... many leading figures in the party have also spread the "Great Reset" conspiracy theory. Turtiainen also focuses on religious rhetoric and often speaks of the "end times".
6/15
VKK's roster has been ever-changing & there's been a lot of internal conflicts inside the party. Antivaxers Ossi Tiihonen (@OssiTiihonen), Heli Rämäkkö (@heliramax) and Cia Grönberg (@cia_kirsikka) left the party after Ano started touting his pro-Russian and religious views.
7/15
Tiihonen was previously discharged from True Finns for his antivax views. They became the leadership of the before-mentioned Vapauden Liitto.
In Feb, 2023, the party's first vice-chairman Ilkka Tiainen (@IkeNovikoff) tried to set up a coup by defaming Ano to get him...
8/15
...discharged, but failed miserably. Tiainen, Suvi Ahonen and Jarno Vähäkainu left the party. Tiainen is best-known for starting a pro-Russian TV channel, Posi TV. It's been since closed for lack of financing. Suvi Ahonen has started Fixit, Finnish version of Brexit, ...
9/15
... and Vähäkainu is best-known for taking secretly photos of a female MP in the Parliament cafeteria and sharing them on social media.
Like Stalin, Turtiainen solidified his power in the party by appointing his wife and his appeasers in the party's board of directors.
10/15
He also appointed Nico Giansanti as first vice-chairman. Giansanti is one of the hosts of the LEVELI podcast, a show which focuses on conspiracy theories, mysticism and "antiglobalism". Giansanti is good friend of a Finnish "independent journalist", Janus Putkonen.
11/15
Giansanti (@ReaverTeknoGods) received Bitcoin from his co-worker after which he left his job as a software developer and tried to became a prestigious figure, living lavish life, publishing awful music, sharing his "wealth" and joining some ridiculous "secret knighthoods".
12/15
Nobody really cares (or knows) about the political profile of VKK. As I mentioned, they are mostly ridiculed both in media and in social media. Of course we will have similar political coalitions in the future, too, and in some countries they will prevail.
13/15
Viktor Orban, Robert Fico, Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini are just a few examples of politicians who are appeasing or are closely connected to Putin's regime and who have thrived in national politics.
14/15
Of course the difference between the VKK folk and these politicians is, that the latter group has had a lot of funding from Russia. But if we give these people and parties too much power, they will try and take over and reign in a kleptocratic manner - just like Putin.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss the Wagner Group, its founders Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, and the mutiny they started on 23 Jun 2023. The event marked the climax of the Wagner Group–Russian MoD conflict, and finally led to the deaths of Prigozhin and Utkin.
1/22
Wagner has been used in many conflicts around the world, but they came to global prominence during the war in Donbas in 2014-2015. Wagnerites helped the Donbas separatists fight against the Ukrainians during the conflict, which helped Putin to “outsource” the insurrection.
2/22
The group doesn’t have any central ideology, but many of its members and leaders have ties to various neo—Nazi movements in Russia. For example, Wagner leader Dmitry Utkin had several Nazi symbols tattooed on his body. Neo—nazi group Rusich has also fights as part of Wagner.
3/22
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an Amsterdam-based propaganda channel, Bonanza Media (@bonanzamedia2). It’s best-known for producing & spreading online pro-Kremlin propaganda videos while closely coordinating & collaborating with the Russian intelligence agency GRU.
1/19
Russian intelligence has been extremely active in the Netherlands for a long time. For example in 2018, four GRU agents were caught while trying to hack into OPCW,an organization that monitors the use of chemical weapons. In addition, the International Criminal Court (ICC)…
2/19
…and the MH17 investigation have become targets for the Russian intelligence and propaganda operations. These operations are often complemented with “investigative journalism” media outlets, that often echo the Kremlin’s propaganda and disinformation.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll talk about the recent EU elections and what are their implications for both the Kremlin and Ukraine. Right-wing political parties, some pro-Kremlin, won a lot of seats around Europe, and this result can also change the EU’s stance on Ukraine.
1/19
But before we start, I want to promote a truck fundraiser I'm doing together with the fantastic @ArturRehi and @69thSB.
Our goal is 20 000 USD, and you can contribute to this important fundraiser here:
EU’s support of Ukraine is essential for their survival against genocidal Russia. So far,this support has been delayed mostly by Orban’s Hungary (& to some degree, Fico’s Slovakia). Now, this support will probably be challenged by many new members of the European Parliament.
3/19
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss a specific propaganda/disinformation that the Kremlin likes to use – antisemitism. I also talk about how the Russian society itself has become riddled with antisemitism & how this has led to a decrease in Jewish population in the country.
1/19
Russian antisemitism works on many levels, and their narratives vary depending whether they’re targeting a local audience or people in Europe and the US. For example for the latter, Russia attempts to create a false narrative of Ukraine being an antisemitic “Nazi state”.
2/19
But before diving deeper, let’s look at a survey data of Russians in 2023: Nearly 30 million Russians harbour antisemitic attitudes, and 15% of those surveyed believed that “Jews were responsible for most of the world’s wars.” 38% think that the Jews have...
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce a Ukrainian media personality and propagandist, Diana Panchenko (@Panchenko_X). She’s best-known for betraying her own country by peddling anti-Zelenskyy and anti-Ukraine propaganda and disinformation for the Kremlin.
1/22
Panchenko was born in 1988 in the Mykolaev Oblast in Ukrainian SSR in 1988. She studied publishing and editing at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and later graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a degree in law.
2/22
After graduating, Diana worked briefly for the news site . Between 2010 and 2015, Panchenko was a presenter for KyivTV, but she found her true calling as a pro-Kremlin propagandist after she was hired by a national “news channel” called NewsOne.