In today's #vatnik soup I'll introduce a British euroskeptic, pro-Russian and anti-American author, John Laughland. He's best-known for his work for the Russia-funded Institute of Democracy and Cooperation and for Thierry Baudet's political party, Forum voor Democratie.
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He worked at the French Institute of Democracy and Cooperation from 2008 until 2018. It is an association founded by a Russian attorney Anatoly Kucherena. Kucherena is probably best-known for acting as a lawyer for both Viktor Yanukovych and Edward Snowden.
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The think tank aims to provide a"symmetrical response" to the human rights violation allegations that organizations like Freedom House introduce,meaning that they'll explain these scenarios from the Russian point of view.The institute is funded by Russian Presidential grants.3/16
Laughland has written articles and publications on The American Conservative (known for "trustworthy" authors such as Douglas Macgregor and Scott Ritter) and Antiwar.com (with pro-Russian Scott Horton, among others).
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Already back in 1997, John published a critique on the EU, suggesting that it shares ideological affinity with fascism, Nazism and communism. He's also a stout critic of the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, stating that it was established illegitimately.
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Laughland's criticized the trial of Slobodan Milošević and condemned the West's support of his opposition.
At the wake of the Orange Revolution in 2004, Laughland wrote a column in The Guardian, claiming that Viktor Yuschenko's coalition was linked to "neo-Nazis", ...
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...and based on him, Yuschenko was mostly supported by "druggy skinheads from Lviv". In reality, most of this "neo-Nazi" movement was a false flag operation funded by pro-Russian actors such as Putin's oligarch buddy Viktor Medvedchuk:
Laughland currently works as the director of the international department of conspiracy theorist Thierry Baudet's political party, Forum voor Democratie. Since then Baudet has organized several events with Laughland as a guest, for example the "China Symposium" in Aug, 2022.
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Baudet also visited John's YouTube show "The Laughland Report" and they discussed the matter of the "COVID conspiracy". Baudet seems to think highly of Laughland's academic work, as he referred Laughland's work several times on his doctoral thesis. He even invited John to...
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...address the Dutch Parliament about judicial independence. In addition to his work for Baudet, Laughland was a visiting Research Fellow at the Orbán-connected Mathias Corvinus Collegium in Budapest between Sep 2022 and Feb 2023.
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John's also been listed as an "expert" for the Russian propaganda channel Valdai Discussion Club, and he's participated in the academic board of the Ron Paul Institute.
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In an interview by Sky News Arabia, in Sep, 2022, Laughland stated that Ukraine allegedly broke the Minsk agreement, that there "absolute is a Nazi element in Ukraine", that the war is between Russia and NATO & the US, that the sanctions are hurting the West more than ...
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... they are hurting Russia, and that they are actually helping Russia. When asked about Kosovo, Bosnia and Ukraine,he claimed that they aren't sovereign states and they wouldn't exist without Western military presence. You can see his overview on the war in the video below.13/16
In his upcoming book, "Endgame Ukraine", he argues that the "current war in Ukraine is the 'endgame' of American hegemonic aspirations", and that it'll eventually end being their "imperial overstretch" and "the brink of its downfall - as it was for Napoleon and Hitler."
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Laughland could be described as an academic with strong pro-Russian and anti-American views. He represents the intellectual section of the pro-Russian actors, working through think tanks, universities and associations, providing him the extra layer of credibility.
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But in the end, he's just another paid Kremlin actor, parroting the same narratives than all the other pro-Russian propagandists. What separates him from most other pro-Russian agents is that he's been playing this game at least since the late 90's.
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.
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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.
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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:
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.
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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.
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:
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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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,…
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…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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.