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, I’ll discuss the Kremlin’s toolbox at sea. Recently, we have seen several sabotage operations allegedly conducted by Russia & its allies, especially in the Baltic Sea region. Since 2023, there have been several underwater cables cut by ships’ anchors.
1/18
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,the Baltic Sea has become a hotspot for NATO-Russia rivalry. This rivalry ramped up in Sep 2022,when the Nord Stream gas pipelines were sabotaged by an unknown perpetrator (some blame a “pro-Ukraine group”, others, the Russians).
2/18
These sabotage operations in the Baltic Sea now target critical infrastructure like Internet and energy cables, links that are vital for European communication and trade. Russia and its allies allegedly use these acts to test NATO’s resilience and response.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the absolute state of X in January 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.
1/22
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.
2/22
Elon’s team has been tweaking the algorithm many times after the takeover. One of these tweaks happened already around Nov 2022, when the platform heavily suppressed the visibility of pro-Ukraine accounts. This change was then noticed & reported by many pro-Ukraine accounts.
3/22
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Venezuelan bus driver, politician & dictator, Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro). He’s best-known for ruining Venezuela, turning it into a dictatorship, and for collaborating with other authoritarian regimes like Russia, Iran & Belarus.
1/22
His exact birthplace has been questioned, but most sources agree that Mr. Maduro was born in Caracas, Venezuela. Maduro was raised in a Catholic family, but at some point became a follower of Indian Hindu guru Sathya Sai Baba and even visited the guru in India back in 2005.
2/22
Nicolás’ introduction to leftist politics happened during the 80s, when he acted as an unofficial trade unionist and as bodyguard for José Vicente Rangel, who later worked as a foreign minister under Hugo Chávez. He also visited Havana, Cuba, where he “studied communism”,…
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an Estonian politician and propagandist, Aivo Peterson. He’s best-known for travelling to Donbas and Mariupol to produce pro-Kremlin propaganda, and for trying to create a pro-Russia separatist movement in Estonia.
1/16
Peterson is what I call a “decoy vatnik” - someone who’s so overtly pro-Kremlin that their activities draw a lot of attention (think Johan Bäckman in Finland), and the Putin bootlickers who work through business and politics can operate in peace.
2/16
Aivo hails from Ida-Viru, a region populated mostly by Russians. His father was Russian — his birthname was Krylov, but he later took his mother’s surname Peterson. Before becoming a full-time Kremlin propagandist, he worked as a border guard, masseur & real estate agent.