In today's #vatniksoup I'll introduce an Austrian diplomat, journalist and politician Karin Kneissl. She's best-known for serving as Austria's Minister of Foreign Affairs, blogging for RT, and being in the supervisory board of Russian integrated energy company, Rosneft.
1/18
In her youth Karin was active in Amnesty International and supported environmental efforts and human rights activism worldwide. She studied international relations in Jerusalem and in Amman, subsequently earning her PhD in international law in 1992.
2/18
Between 1990-1998 she worked as a diplomat in the cabinet of ÖVP. She left the diplomatic service after this & got more involved in politics.She's said that she was involved in founding of the Austrian section of Médecins Sans Frontières,but the organization has denied this.
3/18
Kneissl's politics could be described as euroskeptic and throughout the years she's taken a strong anti-immigration stance. At the height of the refugee influx of 2015, Kneissl criticized the immigrants heavily, pointing out that most of them are economic migrants and are...
4/18
...not being persecuted in their own countries. This type of rhetoric was very common at that time, and it helped many right-wing parties and politicians into the spotlight. The same anti-immigrant bloc started flirting with Putin's Russia, perhaps lured in by their wealth.
5/18
Her anti mass-immigration stance made her very popular among the right-wing populist party FPÖ, to whose events she was often invited. FPÖ even considered making her a presidential candidate, but they finally decided to go with Norbert Hofer instead.
6/18
Later she was nominated by FPÖ for the post of Foreign Minister of Austria in Sebastian Kurz's government. In Aug, 2018, Kneissl got married with entrepreneur Wolfgang Meilinger.
7/18
One of the guests was Russian president Vladimir Putin, and a photo of her submissive gesture of curtsying in front of Putin became a target of major outrage and criticism. She left political office after a vote of no confidence in 2019.
8/18
The next year she started writing occasional op-eds for the Kremlin-controlled RT. Hybrid Warfare Analytical Group has described her as "an advocate for the political agenda of the Kremlin".
9/18
She was among that big group of people who dismissed the US intel on Russia's full-scale invasion of Feb, 2022, disregarding it as "war hysteria" that was blown up by the mainstream media. She has referred to male EU leaders as "teenagers" who are "constantly agitated".
10/18
In Mar, 2021, Karin, after she reported about financial problems related to COVID-19, was finally offered her dream job: she was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Russian state gas company Rosneft.
11/18
Now Kneissl was finally with people who shared a similar world view to hers - she joined the company of Swiss banker Hans-Joerg Rudloff, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and businessman Matthias Warnig.
12/18
The latter two were also involved in development and construction of the Nord Stream pipelines along with Finland's ex-PM Paavo Lipponen. Their shared Rosneft-fairy tale lasted only until May, 2022, after which they all resigned from their posts.
13/18
Losing this important job with annual salary of around 500 000 USD must've been a big hit, but Kneissl wasn't done with Russia just yet. In Sep, 2022, she was a guest at Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok where she was interviewed by RIA Novosti.
14/18
She informed that she had emigrated to Lebanon because of "death threats",transforming neatly from a politician with strong anti-immigration views into an actual immigrant. In Dec, 2022,she posted a nice scenery photo from Moscow,which for some reason was harshly criticized.15/18
Karin's continued her pro-Russian commentary since, often retweeting great Russian thinkers like @Trollstoy88 and @WarMonitors (don't mix this Russophile with @WarMonitor3), in addition with CCP propaganda piece on Sy Hersh.
16/18
In Mar, 2023, she visited Norwegian Professor Glenn Diesen's YouTube channel, where they discussed about "Death of Diplomacy". Diesen is a fellow RT contributor and a fervent promoter of Russian propaganda. None of the guests had naturally even mentioned diplomacy prior to..17/18
... Sep, 2022, when Putin illegally annexed the four Ukrainian Oblasts (that they didn't even fully control) into Russia.
Kneissl has clearly picked her side on this conflict, and her commentary on atrocities in Bucha, Izium and Kherson is non-existent - as is tradition.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an American politician and disbarred lawyer, Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani). He’s best-known for meddling with the pro-Kremlin forces in Ukraine, and for organizing the infamous Four Seasons Landscaping press conference.
1/22
Giuliani rose to fame as the mayor of NYC between 1994 and 2001. He adopted an aggressive enforcement strategy and organized crackdowns on relatively minor offenses like graffiti and cannabis possession. His role in the 9/11 aftermath made him a global superstar.
2/22
This fame gave Rudy new opportunities, and in 2006 he was invited to the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group (ISG), a group that assessed the situation in Iraq. He was soon kicked out of the group due to being more interested in making money by public speaking gigs.
In today’s 300th #vatniksoup, I’ll go through some of the most heroic feats that Ukrainians have achieved since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
In the last 900 days, under-equipped underdog Ukraine has fared well against the imperialist and genocidal Russia.
1/23
As in most conflicts, Ukraine relies heavily on leadership. For this reason, the Kremlin first focused their main propaganda efforts on Zelenskyy, even claiming that he had already fled from Ukraine to Poland. Soon after these allegations, Zelenskyy and his cabinet…
2/23
… published a video from the streets of Kyiv to fight this propaganda campaign. This video quickly became one of the biggest morale boosters for Ukraine, and it has become one of the most legendary and symbolic videos of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce a British far-right activist, Tommy Robinson (@TRobinsonNewEra). He’s best-known for his role in the far-right, Islamophobic organizations like the English Defence League (EDL) and his close connections to the Kremlin.
1/23
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was born in Luton and during his youth delved into a life of crime, serving four prison terms between 2005 and 2019. He used several pseudonyms to hide his criminal past, finally sticking to Tommy Robinson.
2/23
Tommy joined the fascist and far-right British National Party (BNP) in 2004 but left a year later. The party didn’t allow non-whites to join and was then led by Nick Griffin, who today is better known for sharing video game footage while claiming it’s real.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an American politician and author, JD Vance (@JDVance). He’s best-known for his strong stance against US aid to Ukraine, and for being the Republican party’s nominee for vice president in the 2024 election.
1/20
Vance hails from the small town of Middletown, Ohio. His parents divorced when he was a toddler, JD’s mother struggled with drug addiction, and he was raised primarily by his grandparents. Later he enlisted in the US Marine Corps, and spent 6 months as a PR guy in Iraq.
2/20
In 2016, Harper published JD’s book, Hillbilly Elegy, in which he described his life and hardships, and the socioeconomic problems of his hometown. The book was very successful, and it was even adapted into a shitty Netflix movie. It also made JD famous.
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.