Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Feb 22, 2023 12 tweets 5 min read Read on X
In today's #vatnik soup and the edition of "You pronounced this nonsense, not me", I'll discuss the rather novel "Edelweiss neo-Nazi unit" narrative that was also repeated in Putin's speech of 21 Feb, 2023.

1/11
It's worth noting that this part of the speech was borrowed from one of Putin's propagandist, Dmitry Kiselyov, who claimed on state TV that Ukraine is "legalizing the fascist Edelweiss [unit]". He's a propagandist that deserves his own soup entry in the near future.

2/11
But let's review what Putin said in his speech:

"Recently, one of the brigades of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, I'm ashamed to say, was named Edelweiss, same as a Hitler's division that participated in the deportation of Jews, executions of prisoners of war, and punitive...

3/11
... operations against partisans in Yugoslavia, Italy, Czechoslovakia, and Greece. Neo-Nazis do not hide whose heirs they consider themselves to be. It is strange that no one in the West notices this."

4/11
Here Putin refers to the Ukrainian 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade unit specialized in mountain warfare. They have a long history of defending Ukraine: already in 2016 they were defending Donbas, and later they helped the Ukrainian war effort in Marinka, ...

5/11
Popasna, Mariupol and Bakhmut. On 14 Feb 2023, president Zelenskyy awarded the unit with a honorary title "Edelweiss". This immediately got the attention of Russia's propagandists, trying desperately to connect it to Nazi Germany.

6/11
There was a unit in the Wehrmacht (the armed forces of Nazi Germany), 1st Mountain Division, that really used the Edelweiss, a mountain flower, as their insignia. But the unit itself was never named that, unlike many other units around Europe. Some examples include the ...

7/11
...Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, Swiss Army generals and the 21st Rifles Brigade of Poland. Edelweiss was first adapted in Germany as an emblem already in 1907 and yet again in 1915. Incidentally, Edelweiss Group is also the name of an (evil neo-Nazi?) Indian company.

8/11
And here comes the funny part: Russia's 17th special purpose detachment of Rosgvardia was named the Edelweiss (later changed to Avanguard) until 2018. Another Russian Edelweiss unit was the special forces of the Altai Republic in Southern Siberia, which also changed its name.9/11
Yet again, Russian propaganda doesn't hold up against scrutiny. Of course their target audience resides in Russia, where this type of rhetoric will be very effective, as it is yet another "evidence" that they are fighting the "evil Nazis" again, ...

10/11
...like they did during the "The Great Patriotic War". So, now that Putin has materialized this trope, one can expect more of "Edelweiss neo-Nazis" BS in the future, too.

11/11
Support my work (and get some AI art!): buymeacoffee.com/PKallioniemi

Past soups: vatniksoup.com

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Pekka Kallioniemi

Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @P_Kallioniemi

Jul 1
In today’s Wumao Soup, I’ll introduce how and where the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) online propaganda and influence operations work. Due to China’s massive population and advances in AI, CCP-aligned online content has become increasingly visible.

1/20 Image
Like Russia’s troll farms, China has its own troll army: the “50 Cent Party” or “Wumao” refers to state-linked online commentators who are reportedly paid ¥0.50 per post to steer discussions away from criticism and amplify CCP narratives on social media.

2/20 Image
Back in 2017, a research paper estimated that the Wumao produced almost 500 million fabricated comments annually to distract readers and shift topics. In that sense, Wumao operates very similarly to the Russian “Firehose of Falsehood” model:

3/20

Read 21 tweets
Jun 26
In today’s Vatnik Soup and the “Degenerate Russia” series, I’ll show you the brutal reality of Russian war crimes, in particular the horrific tortures and sexual abuses of children, women and men.

Buckle up, this one is not for the faint-hearted.

1/24 Image
For over a decade now and as part of their “firehose of falsehood” propaganda strategy, Russia has been spreading false narratives targeted at right-wing/conservative audiences, portraying russia as a bastion of Christian, traditional,family values.

2/24

In the previous “degenerate Russia” series we discussed Russia’s insanely high divorce rates, rampant domestic violence, high murder rates, thriving neo-Nazi culture, corruption of the Orthodox Church, and their massive demographic problem:

3/24

Read 26 tweets
Jun 24
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explore how Russia is working with Iran, and how the recent Israel–US strikes on Iran could affect the war in Ukraine. Iran has been one of Russia’s key allies in their genocidal war, but in reality the partnership is deeply one-sided.

1/21 Image
Historically, Russia/USSR has been involved in numerous wars in the Middle East, invading Afghanistan for nearly a decade and desperately trying to keep Syria’s authoritarian leader, al-Assad, in power before his eventual downfall.

2/21 Image
Image
While initially supportive of Israel, the Soviet Union quickly pivoted to backing its enemies, fueling antisemitism, terrorism, and chaos in an already tense region. At times, this meant near-open war, like when Soviet Air Force MiG-21s were shot down by Israel over Egypt.

3/21 Image
Image
Read 22 tweets
Jun 20
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce a Latvian politician and former MEP, Tatjana Ždanoka. She’s best-known for her history in the Communist Party of Latvia, for her pro-Russian politics in the country, and her connections to Russian intelligence.

1/22 Image
Based on Ždanoka’s speeches and social media posts, she has a deep hatred towards the people of Latvia. The reason for this can only be speculated, but part of it could be due to her paternal family being killed by the Latvian Auxiliary Police,…

2/22 Image
…a paramilitary force supported by the Nazis, during the early 1940s. Ždanoka became politically active in the late 80s. She was one of the leaders of Interfront, a political party that supported Latvia remaining part of the USSR.

3/22 Image
Read 23 tweets
Jun 16
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce the main themes of Russian disinformation on TikTok. Each day, there are thousands of new videos promoting pro-Kremlin narratives and propaganda.

It’s worth noting that Russians can only access European TikTok via VPN.

1/10
There is currently a massive TikTok campaign aimed at promoting a positive image of Russia. The videos typically feature relatively attractive young women and focus on themes of nationalism and cultural heritage.

2/10
Ironically, many of these videos from Moscow or St. Petersburg are deceptively edited to portray Ukraine in a false light — claiming there is no war and that international aid is being funneled to corrupt elites.

3/10
Read 11 tweets
Jun 8
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about Finland and how pro-Kremlin propagandists have become more active in the Finnish political space since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For the first time since 2022, they’ve gained some political power in Finland.

1/16 Image
Russia’s political strategy in countries with Russian-speaking minorities (such as Finland and the Baltics) is typically quite similar: it seeks to rally these minorities around issues like language and minority rights, and then frames the situation as oppression.

2/16 Image
Image
Image
At the same time, Russian speakers are extremely wary and skeptical of local media, and instead tend to follow Russian domestic outlets like Russia-1 and NTV, thereby reinforcing an almost impenetrable information bubble.

3/16 Image
Image
Image
Read 17 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(