Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Mar 3, 2023 18 tweets 12 min read Read on X
In today's #vatnik soup, I'll introduce an Irish writer and retired journalist, Eoin Ó Murchú (@Eomurchu). Ó Murchú is a devout communist and a contributor to Tuairisc.ie (@tuairiscnuacht), a @ForasnaGaeilge funded Irish language website.

1/17
As you can guess, this self-described "professional journalist" (probably, "independent", too) has spread more Russian narratives than TASS and RT combined. Usually you see people picking up the stories that fit their world view, but Eoin just went and picked them ALL.

2/17
Before the full-scale invasion, Ó Murchú was of course skeptical about Russia attacking Ukraine. He stated that the invasion wouldn't have any purpose, and that the only way the war could start is by "US agents" conducting a false flag attack in Donbas and by stopping NS2.

3/17
Then we have the biolabs, or as Eoin put it, "the US funded biological warfare labs found in Ukraine". He was also bummed that the Ireland's National Television and Radio Broadcaster RTÉ didn't find this worthy of reporting.

4/17
Let's move on to Mariupol - On 11 Mar, 2022, Ó Murchú defended the Russian bombing of five (!) hospitals & simply copy-pasted the Russian lies about these war crimes. Apparently there were only "evil Azov Nazis" left, like the pregnant lady who was evacuated during the siege.5/17
It's worth noting here that Russians and the al-Assad regime had a campaign (!) of hospital bombings, including a bombing of Tarmala Maternity and Children's Hospital in South Idlib, so this has already become a kind of a trademark for the Russian military.

6/17
Of course he also denies any Russian genocidal activities. He quoted Lavrov on the Bucha massacre, stating that the mass murder was a "false provocation". Then he did the same with Izium, claiming that Zelensky will "produce some bodies, like he did in Bucha".

7/17
The bodies found in Izium had their genitals hacked off, they were tortured and many of the bodies had broken jaws and ribs and cracked skulls. Regarding Bucha, there is plenty of video and photo material supporting the fact that the Russians murdered civilians en masse.

8/17
And what was his reasoning for the Russian invasion? Of course the age-old lie that the Ukrainians shelled Donbas, killing 14,000 people, mostly civilians. Read more about what actually happened here:

9/17
Then there's the Kramatorsk railway station attack. Ó Murchú stated that the missile that was used was actually Ukrainian, referring to Scott Ritter's report on the "AltWorld" blog. This was of course contradicted by the Amnesty and Conflict Intelligence Team reports,that...10/17
... said the Russian forces had used these missiles in multiple parts of Ukraine prior. After the strike, Russian media claimed they'd made a successful attack in Kramatorsk and denied the attack only after it became clear that there were a lot of civilian casualties.

11/17
He has said that "when the Ukrainians are expelled from the Donbas you will hear the voice of the people." Ethnic Ukrainians made up over 57% of the population of the Donbas according to the last census before the start of the conflict in 2014.

12/17
In 1991, when Ukraine had their Independence Referendum, 83% of people from Donbas voted for it.

Ó Murchú writes a regular column for @tuairiscnuacht, and his column on 14 Jan 2023 was headlined "Beware the Ghost of Racism".

13/17
He criticized recent anti-refugee protests in Ireland, stating that it is "shameful" that people were "shouting insults and threats" at refugees. This didn't stop him from attacking @NadiaDobryanska, an actual Ukrainian refugee in Ireland.

14/17
He's often talked about "Ukrainian Nazis". According to Ó Murchú, "Slava Ukraini" is a "Nazi slogan" and Ukraine is under Nazi control. This type of rhetoric was also used by the Russian soldiers who killed innocent civilians in Bucha.

15/17
Some have speculated that Murchú is a contributor in the magazine The Phoenix (@ThePhoenixMag). All the articles in it are written anonymously, but its content about Ukraine is remarkably like Ó Murchú's output, right down to his dislike of the 🇺🇦 refugee Nadia Dobryanska.

16/17
To conclude: there's nothing new about Eoin Ó Murchú - he's just an Irish copy of other pro-Russian communists you can find in most countries. But there's just something icky about a person who spreads outright lies and calls themselves a "professional journalist".

17/17

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More from @P_Kallioniemi

Aug 18
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explain the Alaska Fiasco and how it marks the peak of Trump’s two-year betrayal of Ukraine. What was sold as “peace talks” turned into a spectacle of weakness, humiliation, empty promises, and photo-ops that handed Putin exactly what he wanted.

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Let’s start with the obvious: Trump desperately wants the gold medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, mainly because Obama got one. That’s why he’s now LARPing as a “peace maker” in every conflict: Israel-Gaza, Azerbaijan-Armenia, India-Pakistan, and of course Ukraine-Russia.

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Another theory is that Putin holds kompromat — compromising material such as videos or documents — that would put Trump in an extremely bad light. Some have suggested it could be tied to the Epstein files or Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

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Read 25 tweets
Aug 11
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about engagement farming: a cynical social media tactic to rack up likes, shares, and comments. From rage farming to AI-powered outrage factories, engagement farming is reshaping online discourse and turning division into profit.

1/23 Photo by JULIE OLIVER /Postmedia
Engagement farming is a social media tactic aimed at getting maximum likes, shares, and comments, with truth being optional. It thrives on provocative texts, images, or videos designed to spark strong reactions, boost reach, and turn online outrage into clicks and cash.

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One subset of engagement farming is rage farming: a tactic built to provoke strong negative emotions through outrageous or inflammatory claims. By triggering anger or moral outrage, these posts often generate 100s or even 1,000s of heated comments, amplifying their reach.

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Read 24 tweets
Aug 6
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the autocratic concept of “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars”: the idea that the leader is wise and just, but constantly sabotaged by corrupt advisors. This narrative shields the ruler from blame, and it’s used by both Putin and Trump today.

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The phrase “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars” (Царь хороший, бояре плохие), also known as Naïve Monarchism, refers to a long-standing idea in Russian political culture: the ruler is good and benevolent, but his advisors are corrupt, incompetent and responsible for all failures.

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From this perception, any positive action taken by the government is viewed as being an accomplishment of the benevolent leader, whereas any negative one is viewed as being caused by lower-level bureaucrats or “boyars”, without the approval of the leader.

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Read 21 tweets
Jul 28
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian politician and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Kiriyenko. He’s best known for running both domestic and foreign disinformation and propaganda operations for the Kremlin.

1/20 Image
On paper, and in photos, Kiriyenko is just as boring as most of the Kremlin’s “political technologists”: between 2005-2016 he headed the Rosatom nuclear energy company, but later played a leading role in the governance of Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine.

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What is a political technologist? In Russia, they’re spin doctors & propaganda architects who shape opinion, control narratives, and manage elections — often by faking opposition, staging events, and spreading disinfo to maintain Putin’s power and the illusion of democracy.

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Read 21 tweets
Jul 27
Let me show you how a Pakistani (or Indian, they're usually the same) AI slop farm/scam operates. The account @designbonsay is a prime example: a relatively attractive, AI-generated profile picture and a ChatGPT-style profile description are the first red flags.

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The profile's posts are just generic engagement farming, usually using AI-generated photos of celebrities or relatively attractive women.

These posts are often emotionally loaded and ask the user to interact with them ("like and share if you agree!").

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Then there's the monetization part. This particular account sells "pencil art", which again are just AI-generated slop.

Country code for the phone number is in Pakistan.

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Read 5 tweets
Jul 15
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American lawyer and politician, Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee). He’s best-known for opposing the aid to Ukraine, undermining NATO by calling the US to withdraw from the alliance, and for fighting with a bunch of braindead dogs online.

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Like many of the most vile vatniks out there, “Based Mike” is a lawyer by profession. He hails from the holy land of Mormons, Utah, where he faces little political competition, allowing him to make the most outrageous claims online without risking his Senate seat.

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Before becoming a senator, Mike fought to let a nuclear waste company dump Italian radioactive waste in Utah, arguing it was fine if they just diluted it. The state said no, the public revolted, and the courts told poor Mikey to sit down.

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Read 23 tweets

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