Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Mar 18, 2023 22 tweets 11 min read Read on X
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.

In reality we all know who pays for her bills.

20/20
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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More from @P_Kallioniemi

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In today’s May 9th Vatnik Soup, we discuss the ambiguous relationship of the Kremlin with Nazism and explain why so many vatniks can be outright Nazis, and promote or excuse them while at the same time being so hysterical about alleged “Nazis in Ukraine”.

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Of course, Kremlin propaganda employs the Firehose of Falsehood and often lacks any consistent ideology other than spreading chaos and seeking power, so such contradictions can be commonplace. However in this case there is a certain cynical consistency there.

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May 6
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the state of X in May 2025. Since its acquisition by Elon Musk, this platform has rapidly transformed into his personal political tool and a breeding ground for hate speech and disinformation.

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Not everyone is following this shitshow as closely as I am, so I thought it would be good to write a summary of all the changes that have happened on this forum and outside of it. These changes have drastically changed how the platform operates and who gets “a voice” here.

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May 2
In today’s 350th Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American comedian and podcaster, Dave Smith (@ComicDaveSmith). He’s best-known for his numerous appearances on the Joe Rogan Experience and for his unhinged takes on the Russo-Ukrainian War.

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Smith has a massive megaphone - he’s a good friend of Joe Rogan, and he’s appeared on Joe’s podcast a whopping 16 times. Naturally, he’s also visited Lex Fridman’s podcast and frequently appears on Fox News’ Kennedy and The Greg Gutfeld Show.

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Dave is part of the Kremlintarian section of the Libertarian Party called Mises Caucus. They took control of the party in May 2022, and with the help of their new leader, Angela McArdle, turned it into an extension of the MAGA Republicans:

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Apr 29
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian journalist, Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin). He’s best-known for posing as a Russian dissident, while at the same time sneakily promoting the Kremlin’s narratives about the Russo-Ukrainian War.

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On paper, Leonid doesn’t look like your typical Kremlin apologist - he’s written and worked for prestigious Western outlets like the BBC, the Guardian, and he’s even written some Lonely Planet guides for the Baltic countries!

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But Ragozin’s public commentary often seems to walk a fine line: condemning the war while pushing narratives that shift blame, dilute responsibility, or quietly carry the same old imperial baggage Russia - or its opposition - has never truly forgotten.

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Apr 28
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll introduce a bank that is well-known in both Austria and Russia: Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and its Russian subsidiary, AO Raiffeisen. It is one of the few foreign banks that still does business in Russia.

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Raiffeisen’s Russian branch was founded in 1996 and expanded dramatically after the acquisition of Russia’s Impexbank in 2006. A year later, it was the largest bank trading in foreign capital (seventh in size) in Russia.

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In the early 2000s, Raiffeisen opened new branches in Russia, including in Saint Petersburg, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Krasnodar. After 2018, it focused on digital expansion and by 2021 it had a digital presence in more than 300 cities.

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Read 22 tweets
Apr 24
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an Estonian lawyer, social activist, politician, and useful idiot for the Kremlin, Varro Vooglaid (@varrovooglaid). He’s best-known for promoting pro-Kremlin viewpoints under the guise of “traditional family values.”

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Vooglaid has an academic background, which usually gives people plenty of credibility in the eyes of the Kremlin. Most of his academic career was spent at the University of Tartu, but he was also a researcher between 2007 and 2011 at the University of Helsinki.

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Varro is likely the most influential vatnik in Estonia. His academic credentials provide him credibility, while his religious image appeals to “traditionalists” - many of whom oddly admire Russia and its imperialistic nature.

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Read 21 tweets

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