Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Apr 26, 2023 18 tweets 9 min read Read on X
In today's #vatniksoup, I'll discuss Russian online information operations, and how they are perceived around the world. In the West, we often perceive this propaganda only targeted at us, which is far from the truth.

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As I've written previously, the idea of Russian information operations date back to days of KGB, and it is part of the, aktivnye meropriyatiya, or active measures. Active measures includes activities like espionage, propaganda, sabotage and assassination, and it is ...

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...and was part of Russia's foreign policy. Another related term related to info ops is hybrid warfare, which is a theory of military strategy that blends conventional warfare with irregular warfare, cyberwarfare and warfare in the information space.

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It is worth noting that information operations are most often long-term operations, with goals far ahead in the future. KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov stated that most operations have a time span of around 25 years.



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The general, simplified model for info ops is as follows: first, you sow fears ("Ukrainians are killing Russians"). Then you fuel mistrust ("You can't trust the mainstream media, they're CIA/MI6/deep state/etc controlled"), ...

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...and finally you offer salvation ("here's an interesting blog/group that tells you the TRUTH").

The war waged in information space is just as important as the conventional war in the battlefield - when combined with other measures, effective online info ops can heavily..

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...affect people's opinions. For example, pro-Russian propagandists often refer to the Russo-Ukrainian War as a "waste of money". They can also refer to the high levels of corruption in Ukraine, which is mostly a legacy and tradition from the Soviet times, or refer to...

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...its leadership ("the Kyiv regime") as being greedy and corrupt group of warmongers.

One of the best-known propagandists of the modern era, Joseph Goebbels, laid out various principles on successful propaganda, and these principles are still utilized today.

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One of his principles was "Pick out one special 'enemy' for special vilification." In the case of Ukraine, this enemy is the "Kyiv regime" and their armed forces that is "infiltrated by neo-Nazis" that are a threat to both Ukrainians and the Russians.

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Another one of Goebbels' principles was "Avoid abstract ideas - appeal to the emotions" - bioweapons labs, "neo-Nazis", NATO proxy war, genocide of Russian population in Ukraine... all these are tangible, simple ideas that can easily be reinforced with propaganda.

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This reinforcing is done in line with another of Goebbels' principles, "constantly repeat just a few ideas". When we look at the Russian propaganda model in regards to Ukraine, we can see that Goebbels' last two principles are applied, too: the first one is "give only ...

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...one side of the argument", and "continuously criticize your opponents".

The most successful case of hybrid warfare were the Russian interference of 2016 US presidential election and the Brexit referendum. These operations was started almost a decade before the ...

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...actual events, and they contained operations such as hack-and-leak, mass spreading of online disinformation and propaganda, funding of (opposing) NGO's, and undermining of the authorities, journalists and official institutions.
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All online operations were naturally supported with heavy use of troll farms and social media manipulation through organizations like Yevgeny Prigozhin's Internet Research Agency.
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But now that we know all this, we can counter it, right? Yes and no. The Kremlin propagandists have realized long time ago that the West has become more resilient against their BS, and so they've focused on new areas such as the Global South.
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For example, RT is one of the most popular sources for the Russo-Ukrainian War in Latin America. RT recently made partnership with Cameroonian TV channel, Afrique Média. An animation where Wagner soldier defeats "French zombie invaders" goes viral on African social media.
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In Mali you can listen to news on Sputnik Afrique every night. The leaked US intelligence documents revealed that Russia is planning a propaganda campaign to "realign" public opinion in Africa towards Russia & so far almost nobody in the West has paid any attention to this.
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More from @P_Kallioniemi

Jul 28
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian politician and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Kiriyenko. He’s best known for running both domestic and foreign disinformation and propaganda operations for the Kremlin.

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On paper, and in photos, Kiriyenko is just as boring as most of the Kremlin’s “political technologists”: between 2005-2016 he headed the Rosatom nuclear energy company, but later played a leading role in the governance of Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine.

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What is a political technologist? In Russia, they’re spin doctors & propaganda architects who shape opinion, control narratives, and manage elections — often by faking opposition, staging events, and spreading disinfo to maintain Putin’s power and the illusion of democracy.

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Read 21 tweets
Jul 27
Let me show you how a Pakistani (or Indian, they're usually the same) AI slop farm/scam operates. The account @designbonsay is a prime example: a relatively attractive, AI-generated profile picture and a ChatGPT-style profile description are the first red flags.

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The profile's posts are just generic engagement farming, usually using AI-generated photos of celebrities or relatively attractive women.

These posts are often emotionally loaded and ask the user to interact with them ("like and share if you agree!").

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Then there's the monetization part. This particular account sells "pencil art", which again are just AI-generated slop.

Country code for the phone number is in Pakistan.

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Read 5 tweets
Jul 15
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American lawyer and politician, Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee). He’s best-known for opposing the aid to Ukraine, undermining NATO by calling the US to withdraw from the alliance, and for fighting with a bunch of braindead dogs online.

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Like many of the most vile vatniks out there, “Based Mike” is a lawyer by profession. He hails from the holy land of Mormons, Utah, where he faces little political competition, allowing him to make the most outrageous claims online without risking his Senate seat.

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Before becoming a senator, Mike fought to let a nuclear waste company dump Italian radioactive waste in Utah, arguing it was fine if they just diluted it. The state said no, the public revolted, and the courts told poor Mikey to sit down.

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Read 23 tweets
Jul 14
While Ukrainians are terror bombed on a daily basis, rich Russians live in Europe like kings and queens.

This young lady lives in Portugal, and travels freely to Ibiza...
...the Alps...
... and of course Paris.
Read 5 tweets
Jul 7
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American national security policy professional and the current under secretary of defense for policy, Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby). He’s best-known for fighting with cartoon dogs online and for halting military aid to Ukraine.

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Elbridge "Cheese" Colby earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Before entering government, he worked at top think tanks and in the intelligence community, focusing on nuclear policy and strategic planning.

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Cheese quickly became a key voice for a “China First” strategy, arguing the US must prioritize military buildup in Asia over commitments in Europe or the Middle East. He sees (or saw, rather) Taiwan as the core test of US credibility.

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Read 23 tweets
Jul 6
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’m going to talk about… Vatnik Soup! As some of you know, we also have a website where you can find every soup ever published. The site also has other useful resources, making it the most comprehensive resource on Russian disinformation & vatniks.

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Unfortunately, Elon has flagged the website as malware, as he might not be very happy about the soups I wrote about him - so far, they have garnered over 60 million views on X/Twitter.

The “freedom of speech” spokesperson doesn’t seem too keen on free speech, after all.

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The heart & soul of the website is of course the soups page. There you can find all 360+ soups, which can be sorted chronologically, by popularity, etc. You can also search for soups by title or even in the soup text:

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vatniksoup.com/en/soups/
Read 15 tweets

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