In today's #vatnik soup I'll talk about children, and especially the children of the Russian propagandists and politicians. It seems that the Kremlin-elite doesn't want to send their children to fight in Ukraine, but rather provide them with Western luxuries and education.
1/18
I have previously written about Kremlin folk who often criticize the West while vacationing on various European hotspots. Some of these include the Russian Deputy Minister of Defense, Timur Ivanov and his wife, and the press secretary for Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov.
2/18
In the midst of the Russian mobilization and the Great Exodus, Putin called those who leave Russia and turn to the West "scum and traitors to their homeland". The "We all must do our part" rhetoric has been constantly parroted in the Russian media,...
3/18
...and everyone who avoids their duty to the "Fatherland" is a coward. In Mar, 2022, he said that "they [the West] will try to bet on the so-called fifth column, on traitors. To those who earn their money here, but live there".
4/18
Of course there is also the narrative about the "decadent West", where traditional values are forgotten and children's parents are called simply Parent 1 and Parent 2. In this story, homosexuality and pedophilia are rampant in the West and religious values...
5/18
...have been forgotten a long time ago. Nevertheless, it seems that the Russian elite want to join the unholy bacchanals in the West, and even send their kids to learn about these twisted values!
Let's go through some notable examples:
6/18
This is Polina Kovaleva, Sergei Lavrov's stepdaughter. Polina loved spending time at the now-seized Deripaska's mansion in Porto Cervo. Somehow, at the age of 21, she had the money to buy an apartment from Londongrad with a price tag of 4,4 million pounds, with cash.
7/18
Maria Pevchikh (@pevchikh) has called Polina's Instagram feed as a "non-stop holiday". Due to the attention she got, her Instagram account has been turned to private, but there's no doubt she's still vacationing somewhere around the world.Kovaleva was sanctioned in Mar, 2022.8/18
This is Jelizaveta Peskova,daughter of Dmitri Peskov. While Ukrainian civilians, including children,are bombed and tortured in places like Kherson,Peskova is posting pictures & videos from various luxurious locations in Europe. She also seems to enjoy the "Western decadence".9/18
As a child, she attended the Ecole des Roches, a boarding school whose fees would've taken up most of Dmitry Peskov's official salary. Later she interned for Louis Vuitton and completed a marketing degree from a French Business School.
10/18
To be fair, she's been vocal about the war, saying that "for me, it's totally unfair and unfounded". This comment came after she was sanctioned in Mar, 2022. On the day of the full-scale invasion, she posted the words "No to war" on her Instagram page, a crime that...
11/18
...could put her behind the bars for 15 years when (if) she goes back to Russia - it'll be interesting to see what happens.
And it doesn't end there: Lavrov's other daughter, Yekaterina, studied in the US, State Duma's Deputy Speaker Sergei Zheleznyak's three daughters...
12/18
...study in Switzerland and in Britain, Putin's close confidant, Vladimir Yakunin's children and grandchildren also lived in Switzerland and in the UK, and Russian politician Yelena Mizulina's son lives in the US. Pavel Astakhov, ...
13/18
...a politician who is best-known for advocating the ban on the adoption of Russian children by foreigners, has a son who was also studying abroad. Sergei Lisovsky's son hold the citizenship of a NATO state. Lisovsky is an open supporter of the Russo-Ukrainian War and...
14/18
...one of the main suspects in the murder of journalist Vladislav Listiev. Alexei Cepa, a State Duma member who constantly criticizes the West, doesn't mind that his son runs a company in Spain and owns a villa in Marbella.
15/18
His daughter Anastasia lives in the UK and is beneficiary in a company that sells "luxury clothes and accessories".
Master propagandist Vladimir Solovyov's son used to study in London. He was recently accused of "draft-dodging" by living and modeling in London, but the...
16/18
...images that were shared were actually taken by a Russian model agency, Contora.
Even Putin's daughter, Katerina Tikhonova, has lived in Europe with his husband Igor Zelensky, flying more than 50 times between Moscow and Munich in a time period of just one year.
17/18
While Ukrainians die en masse, these hypocrites keep on living a life of luxury as usual. Recently they've relocated to Dubai.
As the late Russian General Alexander Lebed said: "Let me recruit a platoon of the children of the elite, and the war will be over in a day."
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Serbian academic, Ratko Ristić. He’s best known for engaging in pro-Kremlin, ultranationalist politics and propaganda while undermining business ties between Serbia and the EU.
1/18
Serbia, along with Belarus, remains Russia’s staunchest European ally amid its aggression against Ukraine. Not only have they refused to impose sanctions, but Serbia has also become a regional disinformation hub, destabilizing the wider region.
2/18
Beyond foreign malign influence, Serbia’s nationalist-revisionist regime – rooted in the 1990s – has aligned with Russia’s aggressive, anti-liberal nationalist bloc. Serbian far-right groups are also well-known supporters of Russian imperialism.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Oleg Bessedin, a videoblogger and Russia’s favorite mouthpiece in Estonia. Through social media, online groups, and media networks, Bessedin has played an active role in pushing pro-Kremlin narratives to divide Estonian society.
1/13
Oleg is a content creator and businessman with strong ties to pro-Kremlin networks. He runs multiple Facebook groups and media platforms that regularly share Russian state propaganda. Estonia’s Internal Security Service (KAPO) has flagged his platforms as disinfo hubs.
2/13
Bessedin presents himself as an independent journalist, but his content is heavily biased in favor of Russian narratives. He portrays Estonia and the West as corrupt, aggressive, and anti-Russian while defending Russia’s actions on the world stage.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the Russian shadow fleet: a network of ships that operate in secret, dodge sanctions, smuggle oil, and undermine the security of Europe’s seas while keeping Putin’s war machine running.
1/15
To understand the shadow fleet, let’s rewind to 2022. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the West responded with economic shockwaves. Sanctions were imposed, Russian oil was banned, and a price cap was introduced. For Russia, this was a disaster.
2/15
But Putin is well-familiar with economic warfare. Russia quickly created a “shadow fleet” – an armada of rusting oil tankers with false identities and forged paperwork,and illegal trade routes designed to dodge Western sanctions and keep the rubles flowing.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce the American-British social media personalities, Tristan and Andrew Tate (@tatethetalisman and @cobratate).
They’re best-known for their social media grifts and allegations of human trafficking and rape.
1/22
The history of the Tate brothers was introduced thoroughly in my original Vatnik Soup thread, but since then so much has happened that this pathetic duo needs another review. The soup will go through a lot of the evidence and videos in which the Tates incriminate themselves.
2/22
The Tates became (relatively) rich through their webcam (pimping?) businesses and self-help courses targeted at young, desperate (incel?) men. At some point, they had up to 75 women working for them, and the brothers later admitted that the business was a “total scam”.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Russia’s main narratives and explain how they are being spread online by Russian operatives and MAGA Republicans. After three years of war, Russia still relies on old narratives, now amplified by the Trump administration.
1/25
Throughout the years – or even decades – Russia’s narratives against the West have remained largely the same. Many of them date back to the Cold War era, when the KGB and CIA were bitter enemies. But since then, the media landscape has drastically changed.
2/25
Russian propaganda and disinformation revolves around four main themes:
1) Russia is the victim, 2) Historical revisionism, 3) The “decadent West” is collapsing, 4) The CIA and/or “evil Anglo-Saxons” are behind every revolution & anti-Kremlin activity.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a former Ukrainian politician and president, Viktor Yanukovych. He’s best known for selling his country to Russia, trying to turn it into an authoritarian state, and eventually fleeing to Moscow once his plan failed.
1/22
Now that Russia and the US are planning to replace president Zelenskyy with someone who’s more willing to sell the country to them (most probably Viktor Medvedchuk or one of his cronies), it’s a good time to remind people how Yanukovych and Putin almost took over Ukraine.
2/22
Yanukovych’s first attempt at power came in 2004, when he “won” the Ukrainian presidential election through massive fraud. The rigged vote sparked the Orange Revolution, a wave of protests that forced the election to be re-run. His opponent, pro-Western candidate…