Thread by @grok

In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a Danish "citizen journalist" and propagandist, Jesper Larsen (@JesperL01). He's best-known for his pro-Russian fake news blog, ipressen, and for his battle against East StratCom and @EUvsDisinfo.

1/22

Jesper's main target has been an organization called East StratCom, which he calls a "system of censorship". He states that in addition to "political funding", East Stratcom also has external funding coming from George Soros and intelligence services.

2/22

What East StratCom actually does is a lot of research on information operations and disinformation, so defaming it is naturally a high priority for any pro-Kremlin propagandist. The most famous project of East StratCom is the debunking website, EU vs. Disinfo.

3/22

In 2017, Larsen authored a critical report on East StratCom and sent it to Danish pro-Kremlin politician and former defence attaché in Moscow, Marie Krarup. Krarup and her comments have appeared on many occasions on Russian state-controlled media channel, Sputnik.

4/22

Larsen has dedicated a total of 11 blog posts on ipressen to defaming East StratCom, but fortunately these efforts have been in vain. He's also attacked European Values Center for Security Policy, an NGO directed by @_JakubJanda.

5/22

In a 2017 interview, Larsen said that he's made three tips to Crimea, two to Donbas and once to Kyiv to "see what is really happening". According to Jesper, these trips were self-financed. During his trips, he visited the Russia-sponsored separatists, allegedly celebrated...
6/22

with them and visited their military base, which he called "impressive". He also appeared on a local propaganda TV station called "Novorossiya TV". In the interview, he praises the "Donbas separatists" for their "high level of discipline" and for keeping the streets and...

7/22

...alleys of Donetsk clean. Jesper has claimed that he has never received any money from Russia or from pro-Russia media, but that he'd gladly accept payments to "cover my costs".

8/22

Larsen likes to frame absolutely everything as "Russophobia". One example of this is Bill Browder & the "Russophobic" Magnitsky Act. In 2005, Browder was blacklisted over made-up charges by the Russian authorities and his company assets were seized by the Russian government.
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In 2009, Browder's lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died due inadequate medical treatment. After this, Browder started promoting for the Magnitsky Act (and its variants), an international law that would allow officials to sanction individuals for their crimes.

10/22

Larsen has also questioned the down shooting of MH17 by two Russians (including Igor Girkin) and one Ukrainian, parroting the RT narrative that the missile that took down the plane was actually under Ukrainian control (it was not).

11/22

In Oct 2017, Finnish super-vatnik Johan Bäckman interviewed Jesper Larsen in Helsinki, Finland. Most of the interview focuses on the "fake news" reported by the mainstream media in Europe and in the Nordics. Ironically, the video where these two claim that "there is no...

12/22

...free speech" In Europe, are the most productive spreaders of non-censored pro-Russian propaganda in the Nordics. He also attended a "International Expert Conference" called "Hybrid Threats, Nordic States & The Future of Donbass". The event was again organized by Bäckman.
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In 2018, Larsen published a post titled "Toxic lies about Douma", in which he suggested that the video which showed the children victims of a chemical attack was fake, and that it was used to justify "NATO bombing" in Syria.

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In the same article, he also cast doubts on the White Helmets, an NGO group providing humanitarian aid in Syria.

During the same year, Larsen also did an interview with Aleksandr Dugin, which I unfortunately couldn't find from these very 90's style website.

15/22

During 2022, Jesper was also active on Twitter. Some of his topics include the fake referendums, Zelensky's "cocaine addiction", Croatia blocking Finland's and Sweden's NATO membership, and "genocide in Donbas".

16/22

In Feb 2023, Larsen was broadcasting from a Danish "antiwar" demonstration called "The war is more than blue and yellow". The event featured a handful people, and it contained "songs and speeches against arms donations to Ukraine".

17/22

In Apr 2023, Larsen appeared on Bäckman's show with the title "Nordic Experts: Russian Victory in Ukraine leads to Ukronazified NATO", where he appeared alongside with prominent intellectuals, including Swedish Agneta Norberg and a guy from Norway called "Bjorn".

18/22

In this panel, the gang suggested that the news coming out from Nordic public broadcasting companies is no longer just propaganda, but "warporn". The main topic of discussion is a recently published, joint-effort documentary by Nordic public broadcasting companies ...

19/22

...called "The Shadow War". This documentary focuses on Kremlin's espionage efforts against Nordic wind farms, oil platforms, and undersea cables.

20/22

Fortunately, the Nordic countries have become quite resilient to Kremlin narratives, and most of the Nordic propagandists are now in a very tiny marginal, where Larsen also resides.

21/22

Nevertheless, he's still active in the Danish and Nordic scene, broadcasting pro-Russian demonstrations and participating in various podcasts. I'm sure we will see more of him in @johanbek's "Z-streams", where they call for "less Russophobic" news coverage.

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Related soups:
Johan Bäckman:

https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1584446308752191488

Aleksander Dugin:

https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1597504449249181696