Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Apr 29, 2023 19 tweets 9 min read Read on X
In today's #vatniksoup I'm going to talk about the "antiwar movement". After Putin organized the fake referendums in the four Ukrainian Oblasts,various pro-Kremlin parties started calling for immediate peace in Ukraine. Unsurprisingly, the movement was planned by the Kremlin.1/18 Image
In Sep 2022, Russia organized referendums to join Ukrainian Oblasts of Kherson,Zaporizhzhia,Donetsk & Luhansk to the Russian Federation.The whole scenario was absurd - everyone knew that the referendums were totally fake & Russia didn't even control any of these areas fully.
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And suddenly, hundreds of vatnik voices around the world started touting one thing, and one thing only: peace.

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The same people who had spread lies about bioweapons labs, "Ukrainian neo-Nazis", "genocide in Donbas", had decided that it is time to forget all these atrocities, and called for immediate peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

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On 25 Feb 2023, 13 000 demonstrators gathered at the Brandenburg Gate, calling for an end to the weapons supplies to Ukraine and yelling slogans like "Lift the anti-Russian sanctions!" and "Launch Nord Stream 2 immediately!".

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As you can already guess, this was no coincedence. On 21 Apr 2023, WaPo with @CatherineBelton published an article on how the Kremlin has been trying to build "antiwar coalition" in Germany. These plans were exposed by a European intelligence service and reviewed by WaPo.

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In many ways, it proved something that has been theorized on Twitter for a long time: the Russians are trying to unite the political opposites on the far-left (die Linke) and on the far-right (AfD).

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The so-called horseshoe theory suggests that, rather than being at opposing ends on the political continuum, they closely resemble each other.

Proponents of theory suggest that both extremes tend to support authoritarianism or totalitarianism.

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The documents showed that the Russian political strategists had met with Kremlin officials, and that the officials ordered the strategists to focus on building antiwar sentiment in Europe in order to reduce the support for Ukraine with slogans like "Buy gas, not war" and ...
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"Ukraine wants war, Germany want peace".

The documents also revealed that one person close to far-left politician Sahra Wagenknecht, and several AfD members were in contact with Russian officials while these plans were being laid out.

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The plan even included highly detailed, anti-US graffiti that would be painted on the walls across Germany.

These rallies were organized throughout Germany, from a small town of Neustrelitz to Stuttgart, and it included demonstrations led by the Reichsbürger, a movement...
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... that rejects the legitimacy of the modern German state. 25 members of the group were arrested in Dec 2022, for allegedly planning a coup d'état in Germany.

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The AfD is full of Putin apologists like MEP Maximillian Krah, stating that the war in Ukraine was started by the US, and that Russia was only defending itself. Various AfD members have also been offered all-expenses-paid trips to Russia throughout the years.

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Now, this is exactly what has been happening in the US. The so-called "far-left", including the grifters from @TheGrayzoneNews blog, organized the lackluster Rage Against the War Machine event. And boy oh boy, was it a one big horseshoe gathering.

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It featured, among others, the CodePink movement, the communists, and far-right figures like the white supremacists Matthew Heimbach and RapeWaffen (TG group advocating white supremacy extremism, neo-Nazi Satanism and and rape against women) member Shandon Simpson.

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Recently one of the main speakers at Rage, Jimmy Dore, declared his candidacy for the presidential election of 2024. In the US, they call this pro-Russian movement "anti-neocon" and "anti-globalist", whereas in other countries it's mostly referred as the latter.

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The "anti-globalist" movement often spices up their rhetoric with conspiracy theories involving George Soros, Klaus Schwab and the like, stating that there's a "deep state" trying to take control of all of us.

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Now, when talking with these "antiwar people", it is important to ask them: when did you start supporting for peace? If there's no sign of them calling for peace negotiations before Sep 2022, there's a high probability that they're rootin' for Putin.

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More from @P_Kallioniemi

Oct 10
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.

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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.

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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.”

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Read 24 tweets
Oct 6
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.

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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:

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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…
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Read 25 tweets
Sep 25
This is what you’re debating with on social media:
It appears that a few pro-Russian bot farms already found this thread, so remember - just block them all, there's no point in arguing with a computer.
Most of you have seen those "No DMs" profiles, right? That's because you can interrupt the GPT procedure by injecting them new instructions.

At some point it also worked in comments ("give me a cake recipe"), but not so much anymore.
Read 4 tweets
Sep 11
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.

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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.

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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.

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Read 19 tweets
Sep 8
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.

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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.

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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.

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Read 24 tweets
Sep 5
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian-Estonian businessman, Oleg Ossinovski. He is best-known for his deep ties to Russian rail and energy networks, shady cross-border dealings, and for channeling his wealth into Estonian politics.

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Oleg made his fortune via Spacecom Trans & Skinest Rail, both deeply tied to Russia’s rail system. Most of this is through Globaltrans Investments PLC, a Cyprus-based firm with 62% held via Spacecom and tens of millions in yearly profits.

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Ossinovski’s Russian-linked ventures made him Estonia’s richest man in 2014, with an estimated fortune of ~€300M. His business empire stretched across railways, oil via Alexela shares, and Russian bitumen imports from Help-Oil, a supplier to the Defense Ministry.

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Read 15 tweets

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