In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce an American pro-Russian propagandist, Wyatt Reed (@wyattreed13). He's best-known for his work for Sputnik, and for parroting the classic Kremlin narratives such as "Ukrainian Nazis", "genocide in Donbas" & the "corrupted Kiev regime".
1/19
Like with so many Kremlin propagandists, Wyatt's motivation stems from his deep hatred for American imperialism, and as is tradition, Reed's praised "public intellectuals" like Noam Chomsky and John Pilger.
2/19
Reed was also an author at the fake news blog, @TheGrayzoneNews, where he co-authored articles with Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton on Bolivia's political crisis in 2019. He hasn't published anything there after 2020, perhaps due to his contract with Sputnik.
3/19
Wyatt has called himself an "impartial analyst", but naturally he's nothing but a paid mouthpiece for the Kremlin. He's worked for the Russian-state controlled Sputnik for several years.
4/19
Reed's heavily involved in the circle jerk of pro-Kremlin propagandists who for some reason call themselves journalists. He's been interviewed by Katie Halper & Aaron Maté (@UsefulIdiotpod), Gonzalo Lira (@GonzaloLira1968), Liubov Sivaya (@liusivaya), ...
5/19
Tara "Joe Biden raped me" Reade (@ReadeAlexandra), Lee Camp from RT (@LeeCamp), and of course by our own favorite "poor woman from Lugansk", Donbass Devushka.
6/19
Wyatt's propagand relies heavily on the "genocide in Donbas" narrative. He's often reported from Donetsk, claiming that the "Ukrainian Nazis" are bombing civilian targets. Apparently for Wyatt the definition of a Nazi is "anyone who supports Ukraine".
7/19
Between Mar and Apr 2022, Reed was constantly tweeting about Mariupol. He tweeted about the "Azov base" with "copious quantities of nazi paraphernalia", like the hat with the coat Nazi Germany Coat and Arms and SS Totenkopf logo that the Russians planted there.
8/19
He's also shared several propaganda videos of crisis actors blaming the Azov for using them as human shields & forcing them to stay in the city.For some weird reason he did not tweet about the Mariupol theater or the maternity hospital bombings conducted by Russia.
9/19
After Bucha, Reed attempted to muddy the waters with Ukrainian war crimes. He also referred to the event as "so-called Bucha massacre", and stating how the Western media is silent on the "clearing operation", referring to the eradication of Russian forces in the area.
10/19
He was an "international observer" at the sham referendum in Sep 2022 in Sevastopol, Ukraine. "Everything I've seen so far has been very transparent, very open," he commented to TASS when asked about the situation at the polling station.
11/19
In Oct 2022, Wyatt was all about that cold, gasless, European winter. He stated that "It's gonna be a long winter", and fantasized about Europeans huddling over a burning barrel and slowly roasting a rat carcass.
12/19
In the end of Feb 2023, Reed was tweeting how "50,000 Germans came out [...] to call for peace and demand their government "stop the escalation of arms deliveries" to Ukraine". He just forgot to mention that these events were also orchestrated by the Kremlin.
13/19
In his promo video for an "antiwar gathering", Reed accuses Ukraine of Russia's strategy of "double-tapping" (i.e. bombing twice) civilian targets.
In the same video he claimed that the whole war is waged because US needs to launder money to the "elite".
14/19
Wyatt also likes to spice things up with historical revisionism. His claims that it was the Soviets who stopped the Nazis incidentally forgets to mention the military aid and involvement of the US, and the breakthroughs made from UK intel.
15/19
He also forgot to mention that it was actually the Poles, Belorussians and the Ukrainians who lost the largest percentage of population.
16/19
Wyatt is just another "independent journalist" who hails from the "far-left" - he parrots all the Kremlin-supported talking points, and in interviews and podcasts he speaks about his brief visit in Ukraine.
17/19
Now that Russia is doing nothing but losing, he's making subpar propaganda on pretty much anything, including a "sexualized image of the Hindu goddess Kali".
18/19
Oh, and as is tradition: Wyatt claims that the Uyghur genocide is "totally made up" and "CIA propaganda".
All these "journalists" are just predictable carbon copies of each other, toeing the line of totalitarian regimes around the world.
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.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce KOOS party leader and Estonian crypto businessman Oleg Ivanov. He’s best known for running shady businesses, spreading Russian false narratives in Estonia, and participating in the pro-Kremlin political party KOOS.
1/18
As a talented youngster, Oleg learned Estonian almost flawlessly, was a promising karate athlete, and landed a job at a law firm at just 20. He caught the eye of Estonian fuel entrepreneur Endel Siff, who quickly took him under his wing.
2/18
Oleg’s father, Vladimir Ivanov, was a longtime politician from the Russian-funded United People’s Party of Estonia. His career at the town hall ended abruptly when he was caught drunk at work. After that, he went into business with his son, Oleg.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about the takeover of social media by illiberal, populist influencers. For the last ten years, social media has been dominated by these voices and it is one of the main reasons for the political rise of people like Trump and Orban.
1/25
“Illiberal populists” like Trump reject democratic norms while claiming to speak for “the people.” They centralize power, attack institutions, and push nationalism over rights. Elections exist, but checks & balances erode. This is democracy in name, autocracy in action.
2/25
The media landscape has changed drastically over the past two decades. The Internet and social media have changed how we interact online & how we consume media,but it has also become our main source of news. In many ways,social media companies have control over information.