In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce an American politician and gun rights activist, Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert). She's best-known for her support of the QAnon conspiracy theory, for her support of Donald Trump, and for her pro-Russian voting patterns and hot takes.
1/15
Boebert comes from a modest background, and her family was allegedly living on welfare when she was growing up. After high school, she worked at McDonalds and as a pipeliner. In 2013, Lauren and her husband opened Shooters Grill, a gun-themed restaurant where carrying...
2/15
...guns openly was encouraged. In 2004 her then-boyfriend Jayson was arrested for exposing his penis to two young women at a bowling alley. In 2020, she protested the COVID-19 mandates by opening the restaurant despite of restrictions.
3/15
She was then served with a cease and desist order, with which she refused to comply. Eventually, their food license was suspended. The restaurant was a highly unprofitable business endeavor, and it was closed in 2022.
4/15
Around 2019, she started challenging various Democrat politicians on their gun rights stance and occasionally hanging out in demonstrations with far-right militias and organizations such as Three Percenters and The Proud Boys.
5/15
She also gained a lot of traction with her support of the QAnon movement. In May 2020, when she was interviewed by QAnon conspiracy theorist Ann Vandersteel, she stated that:...
6/15
..."Everything I've heard of Q, I hope that this is real because it only means America is getting stronger and better". She was also following several QAnon-related YouTube channels, but deleted her account after someone pointed this out.
7/15
Like her fellow QAnon associate Marjorie Taylor Greene, Boebert denied any connection with either The Proud Boys or with QAnon after she was elected as a representative.
8/15
Lauren is part of the so-called MAGA Republicans group and a HUGE Trump fan. She's been a large proponent of the "Stop the Steal" movement, stating that there was widespread voter fraud in Arizona. She was also criticized for her Twitter coverage of the Jan 6th insurrection.
9/15
As a representative,Boebert has introduced a few dozen bills and resolutions,out of which only two have passed committee (the 1st step in making proposed legislation into a law).Some notable examples include a resolution seeking to enlist antifa as domestic terrorist group.
10/15
She's stated that her top legislative priority is the elimination of critical race theory from US schools, even though the theory is not even taught in schools.
11/15
In Jan 2023, she opposed additional military aid to Ukraine, saying that the US has "already sent too much help" and continuing that "we don’t know where that money is going". For some reason, Boebert also opposed Violence Against Women Act.
12/15
She claimed that the money to Ukraine would be better spent on protecting the south border and fighting the fentanyl crisis.
In Feb 2023, Boebert and three other representatives sponsored a bill to name the AR-15 rifle the US "national gun".
13/15
On 8 Apr 2023, @AnonOpsUnited tweeted that they have damning e-mails of Boebert's. As of today, it is still unclear if these hacks/leaks are genuine or not. If genuine, Mrs. Boebert apparently had Googled about the size of duck's penis.
14/15
The amount of military and humanitarian aid from the US to Ukraine is substantial, and halting it would have devastating effects on Ukraine. This is why the Kremlin will keep on promoting the Trumpists like Boebert, Gaetz, Santos and Taylor Greene to undermine these efforts.15/15
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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.
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 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.
1/22
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.
2/22
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:
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.
1/20
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!
2/20
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.
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.