In today's #vatniksoup and in the second edition of "Where are they now?", I'll do an update on some of your favorite vatniks around the world & report on what they've been up to.
If there's someone or something you'd like to hear more about, let me know in the comments👇
1/21
Let's start with some revelations regarding Russia's hybrid warfare operations in the West. The recent collaboration between Nordic public broadcasting companies revealed that the Russians have been focusing their espionage efforts around critical infrastructure in the...
2/21
...Nordic countries. These include wind farms, oil platforms, and undersea cables.
Watch The Shadow War with English subtitles here:
3/21
The Danish journalists, including @kevinshakir and @LisbethQuass, have also exposed a plan where Russian intelligence services organize false anti-Erdogan protests to sow discord between Turkey and EU countries, and to prevent Sweden's NATO membership.
4/21
This was inspired Rasmus Paludan's Quran-burning incident back in Jan 2023, and Russia was able to coordinate at least one anti-Erdogan demonstration in France in Mar 2023. Incidentally, one demonstration was also organized in Finland in early Mar 2023, ...
5/21
...but it is unclear if it had any external coordination. The event was broadcasted by @HuuhtanenPanu, a Finnish vatnik who is allegedly about to sue me for... something.
As we can see, the Russian fifth column is still strong in Europe. In one incident on 9 May 2023, four Russian women attacked a Ukrainian woman for carrying the Ukrainian flag.
But let's move on to vatniks, and I'm sure you recognize this one: Scott Ritter has been extremely busy in his new favorite country, Russia. His book "Disarmament in the Time of Perestroika: Arms Control and the End of the Soviet Union" was recently published in...
8/21
..Russian by Moskovskaya Pravda, and naturally Scotty went to Russia to do a book tour. 5 May 2023, he told his audience in a bookstore in St. Petersburg that "There’s no way Russia should lose this war" and that...
9/21
..."If Russia wants to win this war, there is no reason why the war wouldn’t be over by late summer or early fall".
While Ritter was praising Russia and its mighty army in St. Petersburg, Gonzalo Lira was arrested by the SBU. There's wild rumors going around that his location was provided to the SBU by no other than our favorite "poor girl from Luhansk", Sarah "Donbass Devushka" Bils.
11/21
Some pro-Kremlin propagandists had warned Gonzalo about Bils, but apparently he didn't listen.
In other news, it appears that Russians are still enjoying NATO countries and European luxuries en masse - in my earlier soups I introduced Russia's Deputy Minister of Defense in Russia, Timur Ivanov, and his wife Svetlana.
13/21
Svetlana LOVES to party in Europe, and he was spotted having fun in Courchevel, France in early Apr 2023.
But she isn't the only one enjoying the luxurious European capitals. Boris Obnosov, a man who is responsible Russia's missile production, has sent his family to live in Prague, where they own a beautiful 140m2 penthouse.
15/21
In addition, they own several apartments around the city, and recently transferred their luxurious cars to Czech license plates. These people sure do seem to love NATO countries!
Here's a great thread on Boris Obnosov and his family:
Conspiracy theorist and Putin-enjoyer Michael Flynn has also been busy. As is tradition in the US, he's sued @jimstewartson for the claims that he's part of QAnon, and the DOJ, FBI and US government for malicious prosecution and abuse of process.
17/21
Previously, his brother sued CNN for 75 million USD over QAnon reports. BTW, Flynn is apparently still collecting a full military pension, paid for by the US citizens, and at the same time tours America with their The Great ReAwakening VS The Great Reset event.
On 29 Apr 2023, the Russians organized a hybrid event called "Global Conference on Multipolarity", a propaganda conference which is basically who's who of pro-Kremlin academics.
20/21
The event included speakers such as Sergei Lavrov, Sergei Glazyev, Konstantin Malofeyev, Pepe Escobar, Roger Köppel and Johan Bäckman.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an American politician and disbarred lawyer, Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani). He’s best-known for meddling with the pro-Kremlin forces in Ukraine, and for organizing the infamous Four Seasons Landscaping press conference.
1/22
Giuliani rose to fame as the mayor of NYC between 1994 and 2001. He adopted an aggressive enforcement strategy and organized crackdowns on relatively minor offenses like graffiti and cannabis possession. His role in the 9/11 aftermath made him a global superstar.
2/22
This fame gave Rudy new opportunities, and in 2006 he was invited to the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group (ISG), a group that assessed the situation in Iraq. He was soon kicked out of the group due to being more interested in making money by public speaking gigs.
In today’s 300th #vatniksoup, I’ll go through some of the most heroic feats that Ukrainians have achieved since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
In the last 900 days, under-equipped underdog Ukraine has fared well against the imperialist and genocidal Russia.
1/23
As in most conflicts, Ukraine relies heavily on leadership. For this reason, the Kremlin first focused their main propaganda efforts on Zelenskyy, even claiming that he had already fled from Ukraine to Poland. Soon after these allegations, Zelenskyy and his cabinet…
2/23
… published a video from the streets of Kyiv to fight this propaganda campaign. This video quickly became one of the biggest morale boosters for Ukraine, and it has become one of the most legendary and symbolic videos of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce a British far-right activist, Tommy Robinson (@TRobinsonNewEra). He’s best-known for his role in the far-right, Islamophobic organizations like the English Defence League (EDL) and his close connections to the Kremlin.
1/23
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was born in Luton and during his youth delved into a life of crime, serving four prison terms between 2005 and 2019. He used several pseudonyms to hide his criminal past, finally sticking to Tommy Robinson.
2/23
Tommy joined the fascist and far-right British National Party (BNP) in 2004 but left a year later. The party didn’t allow non-whites to join and was then led by Nick Griffin, who today is better known for sharing video game footage while claiming it’s real.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an American politician and author, JD Vance (@JDVance). He’s best-known for his strong stance against US aid to Ukraine, and for being the Republican party’s nominee for vice president in the 2024 election.
1/20
Vance hails from the small town of Middletown, Ohio. His parents divorced when he was a toddler, JD’s mother struggled with drug addiction, and he was raised primarily by his grandparents. Later he enlisted in the US Marine Corps, and spent 6 months as a PR guy in Iraq.
2/20
In 2016, Harper published JD’s book, Hillbilly Elegy, in which he described his life and hardships, and the socioeconomic problems of his hometown. The book was very successful, and it was even adapted into a shitty Netflix movie. It also made JD famous.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss the Wagner Group, its founders Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, and the mutiny they started on 23 Jun 2023. The event marked the climax of the Wagner Group–Russian MoD conflict, and finally led to the deaths of Prigozhin and Utkin.
1/22
Wagner has been used in many conflicts around the world, but they came to global prominence during the war in Donbas in 2014-2015. Wagnerites helped the Donbas separatists fight against the Ukrainians during the conflict, which helped Putin to “outsource” the insurrection.
2/22
The group doesn’t have any central ideology, but many of its members and leaders have ties to various neo—Nazi movements in Russia. For example, Wagner leader Dmitry Utkin had several Nazi symbols tattooed on his body. Neo—nazi group Rusich has also fights as part of Wagner.
3/22