In today's #vatniksoup we'll visit Germany for the first time, as I introduce a Russo-German "journalist" and propagandist, Alina Lipp. She's best-known for her pro-Russian TG channel "Neues aus Russland" ("News from Russia") where she spreads propaganda and disinformation.
1/20
In her previous life she studied sustainable governance at the Leuphana University Lüneburg, focusing on environmental studies. Lipp was involved in German politics as a member of the Greens party, but at some point suggested that they were too "anti-Russian" for her.
2/20
Lipp's mother is German and father is Russian. According to Alina, her father told him the truth about the Russo-Ukrainian conflict around 2014, after the Revolution of Dignity and after Russia annexed Crimea.
3/20
After the annexation, she actually travelled to Crimea and started a YouTube channel called "Glücklich auf der Krim" ("Happy in Crimea").
I consider Lipp to be a part of the group of "relatively attractive, young women who do pro-Kremlin propaganda" along with people...
4/20
...like Mira Terada, Maria Butina, Liubov Sivaya and Anna Chapman. Their job is to show everything Russia does in a good light and constantly criticize the West and Ukraine. They have all now relocated to Russia or to areas that Russia occupies illegally.
5/20
In an Orwellian way, she calls herself a "peace journalist". At some point she started reporting from Donbas, where she often complained how badly the civilians are doing due to "Ukrainian shelling". She's stated that in most, if not all, cases Ukraine "fired first".
6/20
In Jan, 2022, she was part of the big group claiming that Russia does not want war and is a peaceful country. On 16 Feb, 2022, she was visiting a conference called "Geopolitical war of the West against Russia: the Ukrainian case" in Russia.
7/20
At the end of Feb, 2022, she reasoned that the "special military operation" was necessary due to the "genocide" of Russian-speaking population in Donbas by the Ukrainian "Nazi regime". Based on Lipp, Putin doesn't kill civilians and actually "saves lives".
8/20
As of today, her "Neues aus Russland" is one of the biggest pro-Russian Telegram channels (and definitely the biggest one in German) with over 185 000 subscribers. Most of its content is naturally just parroting of the most popular Kremlin narratives.
9/20
She's spread (fake) horror stories of "Ukrainian organ trade" and refuted Russian bombing of kindergarten. She's claimed that it was actually the Ukrainians who bombed the Mariupol theater with children and women inside.
10/20
She's also downplayed the number of civilian casualties, spicing it up with an image from Russian music video where a "corpse" moves inside a body bag. This same video was shared during the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming that it was actually a hoax "plandemic".
11/20
Lipp uses this method a lot: she often posts debunked or fake videos from various contexts, usually from Russia. Sometimes she deletes her posts after someone points out the truth, sometimes she doesn't.
12/20
Now there can be two explanations for her actions: she is either a) willingly spreading debunked disinformation, or b) gullible and naive. I honestly don't know which one of these is worse.
13/20
In Nov, 2022, she was guest at the Forum of International Friends of Crimea held at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow. There she even gave an empowered speech in support to Russian troops that she claims are now "fighting against NATO".
14/20
Her website is still very active, and her latest blog post and video on Donbas is from 6 Mar, 2023. In the first part she explained how Ukrainians "terrorize" Donbas and in this second edition she interviews pro-Putin actors about these "terrors".
15/20
She's even tried to do some comedy, but as we all know that Germans and humor are usually not a very good mix (just kidding). In a video she published on her website she played the German minister for foreign affairs, Annalena Baerbock.
16/20
German government has stated they are investigating Lipp's propaganda activities in Ukraine, and she may face up to three years in prison. The accusations were especially about the "genocide in Donbas" narrative, which have been proven to be a lie on many occasions.
17/20
All this information came from Lipp herself, so it should be taken with a grain of salt. In Germany, hate speech is still very much against the law and the authorities are simply following these laws, but it has become a very effective propaganda weapon against the West...
18/20
...for all pro-Russian actors, including Alina herself. But even if she was sentenced to prison for 3 years (which I REALLY doubt), that would still be 5 years less than what the Russian opposition leader Ilya Yashin got for discussing over the Bucha massacre.
19/20
Interestingly, most of her channels and her website don't contain any ads (or perhaps they've been demonetized), so in theory it is unclear how Lipp makes a living.
And a little dessert: Alina's little propaganda event in Berlin was cancelled by @BrotfabrikBln after they received more information on the nature of her work.
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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
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.
2/20
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.
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.
1/5
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!").
2/5
Then there's the monetization part. This particular account sells "pencil art", which again are just AI-generated slop.
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.
1/21
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.
2/21
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.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American national security policy professional and the current under secretary of defense for policy, Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby). He’s best-known for fighting with cartoon dogs online and for halting military aid to Ukraine.
1/21
Elbridge "Cheese" Colby earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Before entering government, he worked at top think tanks and in the intelligence community, focusing on nuclear policy and strategic planning.
2/21
Cheese quickly became a key voice for a “China First” strategy, arguing the US must prioritize military buildup in Asia over commitments in Europe or the Middle East. He sees (or saw, rather) Taiwan as the core test of US credibility.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’m going to talk about… Vatnik Soup! As some of you know, we also have a website where you can find every soup ever published. The site also has other useful resources, making it the most comprehensive resource on Russian disinformation & vatniks.
1/15
Unfortunately, Elon has flagged the website as malware, as he might not be very happy about the soups I wrote about him - so far, they have garnered over 60 million views on X/Twitter.
The “freedom of speech” spokesperson doesn’t seem too keen on free speech, after all.
2/15
The heart & soul of the website is of course the soups page. There you can find all 360+ soups, which can be sorted chronologically, by popularity, etc. You can also search for soups by title or even in the soup text: