In today's #vatniksoup I'll introduce hand-picked anti-NATO commentary by various Finnish, pro-Kremlin voices. As of today, all 30 NATO countries have ratified Finland's application to NATO, which resulted in many unhappy Finnish Putin fans.
1/14
One of the biggest anti-NATO figures in Finland has been Panu Huuhtanen (@HuuhtanenPanu). Panu has a long history of organizing demonstrations, and lately he's been active in protesting against Finland's NATO membership. He's also a HUGE fan of Vladimir Putin.
2/14
In May 2022, he tweeted that Finland and Sweden can "stop this NATO mess" based on Erdogan's political statements. In Jul 2022, he continued this narrative on Russian social media platform, VKontakte. He's often acting as a "journalist" at anti-NATO demonstrations.
3/14
Kremlin-paid "independent journalist", "Finnish patriot" and editor-in-Chief of fake news blog MV-Lehti, Janus Putkonen (@janus_putkonen) has been trying to stop Finland's NATO process since it begun.
4/14
MV-Lehti is the biggest Kremlin information laundering service in Finland and Putkonen's financial ties to Kremlin have been proven in a 2016 e-mail leaks.
5/14
Putkonen and his pals even wrote an appeal to Hungary's Parliament at the wake of their ratification vote in Mar 2023.
In the past Janus lived in Luhansk, Ukraine, but his current location is unknown - he most probably already fled to Russia.
6/14
Johan Bäckman (@johanbek) is Finland's oldest and biggest (literally and figuratively) Russian troll. He's been involved in spreading and promoting pro-Kremlin narratives for good 20 years, and he's not showing any signs of slowing down. He's the gentleman with the Z symbol.
7/14
He's currently candidate for the Finnish parliamentary election in the pro-Russian party VKK. Johans's organized the "Great NATO discussion", a anti-NATO propaganda talk, often featuring the most prominent Finnish pro-Russian propagandists.
8/14
Bäckman's often "representing Finnish views" on Russian national TV. He's also been convicted of stalking YLE journalist Jessikka Aro to a 60-day suspended prison sentence.
9/14
Ano Turtiainen (@TurtiainenAno) is the chairperson of the political party VKK ("Power to the People"). Their pro-Russian stance has been evident for a long time, and after Feb 2022, Ano has spread pro-Russian narratives on social media on almost daily basis.
10/14
Ossi Tiihonen (@OssiTiihonen) is the chairperson of the political party Vapauden Liitto ("Alliance for Freedom"). He became prominent with his COVID-19 antivaxx and climate change critical theories, and after Russia started their full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he ...
11/14
...started touting his pro-Russian views. On social media he's more focused on the WEF/Great Reset conspiracy theory, but he's often stated that Finland should "normalize" relations with Russia and start buying their energy again.
12/14
Then there's also Juha Korhonen (@Juha_Korh2), a candidate for Vapauden Liitto, but not even the people in his political sphere care what he says.
13/14
To conclude: As was expected, Finland's application to NATO was ratified in a record time and a small group of conspiracy theorists and pro-Kremlin puppets couldn't do a thing to stop it.
I'm also sure that our little brother Sweden will be allowed to join NATO soon, too.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll explain the context of the upcoming Budapest Blunder, and how it follows the infamous Alaska Fiasco from two months ago and Trump’s absurd delaying of serious aid to Ukraine and effective sanctions on Russia for the past nine months.
1/20
Two months ago, Trump embarrassed the United States by rolling out the red carpet for war criminal dictator Putin and overall acting like a pathetic servant eager to meet his master. Of course, the Alaska Fiasco didn’t bring peace any closer.
Worse, the main outcome of the humiliation was to delay serious sanctions, which the US Congress, in rare bipartisan unity against Russia, was on the verge of passing. Two weeks by two weeks, Trump Always Chickens Out, postponing any real pressure on Putin for 9 months now.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American propagandist Alexandra Jost, aka “Sasha” (@sashameetsrus). She’s best known for being paid by the Russian state to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda — and for doing it with a big smile.
1/23
Alexandra, now 26, was born in Hong Kong. Her father is from Texas, and her mother is from Siberia. According to her, she has “dreamed of living in Russia since childhood.” Sasha's mother runs a dance studio in Moscow and her younger brother is avoiding mobilization.
2/23
Since the beginning of her creator career, Sasha has been adamant about one thing: that she’s “never had to be paid” to speak of her “love” for Russia. But, as always with Russia, this turned out to be nothing but vranyo — a Russian “tactical lie.”
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll reintroduce an American political commentator and pro-Kremlin propagandist, Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson). He’s best known for his promotion of crazy conspiracy theories and for his support of authoritarian regimes around the world.
1/24
Tucker’s career spans decades, but he’s also been very active in recent years, so a lot has happened since our previous soup on him, which can be found here:
Once described as “the most powerful conservative in America”, Tucker has now fully transformed into a grifting conspiracy theorist and propagandist willing to work for whoever pays him the most. It’s unclear whether Tucker truly believes his endless conspiracy theories or…
3/24
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the agenda-setting and flood of disinformation that spread on X and other platforms right after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s far from the first or last time a tragedy has been weaponized for political purposes.
1/18
Every major political event, especially those involving violence, attracts massive attention. In the immediate aftermath, reliable information is scarce, making it highly vulnerable to both coordinated and improvised disinformation campaigns.
2/18
As I’ve mentioned in my previous soups and lectures, in disinformation campaigns, being first with a narrative is crucial, as people often remember the first version best — psychology studies show it sets the mental schema, and later updates rarely overwrite it.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American social media personality David Freeman, AKA Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman). He’s best known for spreading political disinformation on X and shamelessly sucking up to Trump, Putin, and other authoritarian leaders.
1/22
David is a textbook example of someone profiting from MAGA grievance politics. He uses extreme, provocative language to farm engagement on X and never hesitates to flatter anyone who might give him more exposure — or money.
2/22
But David wasn’t always like this. At some point, in his mid-40s, he even tried a real job: he trained to become a cop. He spent three years with the Metro Transit PD, but after that he either got fired or quit, and never looked back.