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 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.
1/21
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.
2/21
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.
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.”
1/20
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.
2/20
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.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll introduce a Russian ultra-nationalist propagandist and “philosopher”, Aleksandr Dugin. He’s best-known for his blueprint on Russia’s geopolitical strategy and for his genocidal rhetoric towards Ukrainians.
1/17
In my first Dugin Soup, I covered the man’s 1997 book Foundations of Geopolitics — a manual for dismantling the West, breaking up NATO, and building a Russian-led empire. In it, he makes eerie “predictions” that seem to be playing out today.
2/17
Dugin called for destabilizing the US by exacerbating internal divisions. Fast forward to today: culture wars, conspiracy theories, far-right lunatics, and social media algorithms doing half the work for him.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Russian propagandist Sergei Tsaulin. He’s best-known for spreading pro-Kremlin narratives in Estonia, fleeing to Russia after breaking several laws in Estonia, and almost getting blown up by a bomb in St. Petersburg.
1/17
For years, Tsaulin was known for organizing marches and events glorifying the Soviet Union. Under the excuse of “remembering history,” these events were nothing more than Kremlin propaganda, wrapped in a red flag with a hammer and sickle.
2/17
One of his most infamous events was the “Immortal Regiment” march, held every 9th of May, where people carried portraits of Soviet soldiers. These marches are used by Russia to push the idea that the Baltics owe their existence to the Soviets.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a podcaster and conspiracy theorist, Joe Rogan (@joerogan). He’s best-known for launching the biggest podcast in the world, promoting various conspiracy theories, his support for Donald Trump and his anti-Ukraine rhetoric.
1/22
Joe Rogan started as a stand-up comedian in the 1980s, found fame on NewsRadio, and became a household name with Fear Factor. But his biggest impact came in 2009 when he launched The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), one of the first major podcasts.
2/22
JRE started as casual but deep conversations, often covering countercultural topics like psychedelics, MMA & hunting. Joe’s podcasting style is largely non-confrontational, often allowing his guests to share their views without significant pushback or critical questioning.