In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a British musician and activist, Roger Waters (@rogerwaters). He's best-known for his involvement in Pink Floyd, and for his love for the totalitarian regimes and their lies around the world.
1/26
It actually pains me to brew this soup, as Waters' music, especially the album titled Animals, has been among my favorites for a very long time.
But one should never meet their heroes, they say, so here goes.
2/26
As with many pro-Kremlin propagandists, Waters has been heavily involved in support of Palestine in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He's supported an international campaign, BDS, that boycotts Israel. He visited the Israeli West Bank barrier for the first time in 2006.
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He's compared the Israeli treatment of Palestinians to Nazi Germany, by saying that "The parallels with what went on in the 1930s in Germany are so crushingly obvious." Water himself has said that he's anti-Zionist instead of antisemitist. Some of his gigs have been...
4/26
...cancelled due to his staunch "anti-Zionist" takes. He also made the weirdest connection between Israeli Defense Force and the death of George Floyd, saying that the US police learned the technique that killed Floyd from the Israeli Army.
5/26
Recently, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called Waters a "global hero", only to delete his tweet later, stating that he had "only recently learned about some of his other views, which I do not share." He then added that he supports Israel's right to exist within secure borders.
6/26
Former Pink Floyd Lyricist Polly Samson tweeted that Waters is "antisemitic" to his "rotten core", also calling him Putin apologist and misogynist. David Gilmour, Roger's former band mate and Samson's husband, fully agreed with this assessment.
7/26
Waters has also denied Bashar al-Assad's involvement in the chemical attacks around Syria. He's called the Syrian humanitarian aid NGO, White Helmets, who save civilians from disaster areas a "fake organisation" that produces propaganda for "jihadists and terrorists".
8/26
When it comes to Russia, Roger has been lately digging himself deeper and deeper into the pro-Kremlin trenches. One week before Russia launched their full-scale invasion in Ukraine, Waters was interviewed by RT. In this interview, he claimed that any rumours...
9/26
...about Russia attacking were "bullshit" and anti-Russian propaganda.
After Russia launched their attack, Waters blamed Joe Biden for "fueling the fire in the Ukraine... that is a huge crime," neatly putting 'the' in front of Ukraine to emphasize its assumed role as ...
10/26
.."the borderlands" - a contested region and a part of the "buffer zone". Based on Roger, Russia had only attacked because it was provoked to do so by the NATO - the classic delusional view of uncontrollable "NATO expansion", which according to him "they promised they...
11/26
...wouldn't do when Gorbachev negotiated the withdrawal of the USSR from the whole of Eastern Europe." He's called the war in Ukraine "probably the most provoked invasion ever" and that won't look at Russia from the "current Russo-phobic perspective." After the First...
12/26
Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska appeared on BBC in Sep 2022, Waters published an open letter where he called for the stop of military aid to Ukraine, since the Western countries were "prolonging the war with their support."
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He's also stated that Ukraine broke the Minsk agreements, but yet again forgets to mention that the treaties were broken by both parties, and Russia was funding and arming the separatist movement in Ukraine, as well as sending their own troops to instigate unrest in there.
14/26
In 2022, in an interview by RT, he reminded the US of the "one China" policy, suggesting that Taiwan is actually part of China. He also called the ongoing Uyghur genocide in Xinjian, China, "absolute nonsense", telling the interviewer to "go away and read about it."
15/26
He's also given an interview to Chinese state-controlled CTGN, calling all US media "propaganda".
In Sep 2022, he wrote an open letter to Putin, calling for peace in Ukraine. In the letter, he called Putin a "gangster", but basically stated that Russia has the right to...
16/26
...take Crimea and the Donbas, but that Putin and his forces "want to overrun the whole of Europe, starting with Poland and the rest of the Baltic states", which would lead to a nuclear war.
In Feb 2023, he was asked to appear in front of the UN Security Council on...
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...behalf of Russia. In his speech, he condemned Russia's attack "in the strongest possible terms", but immediately "condemned the provocateurs [US and NATO] in the strongest possible terms". Few days before this, he was interviewed by Berliner Zeitung, in which he...
18/26
...doubled-down on his previous statements regarding Ukraine and Russia. He blamed the US for orchetrating a "coup d'état" in Ukraine in 2014, and even went as far as blamed Zelensky for being a warmonger. As a cherry on top, he promotes the ridiculous Sy Hersh story,...
19/26
...full of holes, on the US involvement in the Nord Stream sabotage. In the same interview, he also mentioned that the reason for Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine was launched because of a) the genocide in Donbas, and b) to denazify Ukraine.
20/26
He'd exchanged letters with a Ukrainian girl that had written to Waters that "I am 200% certain there are no Nazis in Ukraine," to which he replied "I'm sorry Alina, but you are wrong about that. How can you live in Ukraine and not know?"
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Then he basically explains the script of the propaganda piece "Ukraine on Fire", with "evil genocidal Banderites" and the US staging a coup in Ukraine. Then he talks about how "huge majority" of Ukrainians in the Donbas and Crimea voted to join Russia. Of course he also...
22/26
..mentions that the sanctions are hurting the West, that people in the UK have to choose between "eat or heat", and finally he called everyone who disagrees with him "brainwashed" and "idiots". He also gave The Telegraph an interview during that same month, in which he...
23/26
..said that calling Putin "may have been unfair" and that he "changed his mind" on the matter after watching a podcast called "The Duran".He said that after watching the show,he's had more respect for Putin:"It may be that he’s leading his country to the benefit of all of..
24/26
...the people of Russia."
Roger is a big fan of fake news blog @TheGrayzoneNews. He probably gets most of his information from this site, as his views are very much in line with the "journalists" like @aaronjmate and @MaxBlumenthal. He was also their guest in Oct 2022.
25/26
Recently Waters wore an uniform similar to the ones that the SS war in Nazi Germany. This "antifascist" show has been part of his repertoire since 1982, but it's still absurd when it's done by someone who seems to love totalitarian regimes in Russia, Syria and in China.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I talk about populism. Populism includes a range of political stances with the focus on the idea of the “common people” in opposition to the “elites”. In recent decades, populism has been on the rise around the world,and especially in the US & Europe.
1/25
At its core, populism pits “the people” against “the elites.” It’s a political approach that claims to represent the common folk, often oversimplifying complex issues and tapping into frustrations. Populism can be left-wing, right-wing, or somewhere in between.
2/25
In the US and Canada during the 19th and early 20th century, populist sentiments often came from the small independent farmers, “the people”, who were opposing the bankers and politicians, or “the elites”. The People’s Party in the US was considered…
In today’s vatnik soup, I’ll discuss how Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania cut the cord on Russian energy, further reducing their reliance on the Kremlin.
At the same time, the Baltics set an example for EU countries like Slovakia & Hungary whose leadership still worships Putin.
1/24
Moscow has long used its vast natural gas reserves as a geopolitical weapon, manipulating energy supplies to keep neighbors obedient. They’ve used the “energy weapon” several times, with the most blatant cases of Kremlin blackmail coming of course from Ukraine.
2/24
Let’s rewind back to the 1990s: The USSR dissolved, but Russia inherited the gas reserves, pipelines, and Gazprom — its political weapon. Meanwhile, the Baltic states were politically free but economically tied to Russia, heavily reliant on Russian gas.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an Estonian politician, Jana Toom (@JanaToomEE). She’s best-known for promoting pro-Kremlin viewpoints both in domestic Estonian politics and in the European Parliament.
1/22
Toom’s mother, Margarita Chernogorova, studied law in Leningrad & worked for the Communist Party. She was also a confidant to the most notorious leader of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, Karl Vaino. One of Chernogorova’s tasks was to suppress the Singing Revolution.
2/22
During the early 90s Toom lived with her husband in Snezhinsk, Russia and returned to Estonia in 1994. Soon after, she joined the editorial board of Molodyož Estonii, a paper known for being a mouthpiece for the Leninist Communist Youth League during the Soviet era.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the Kremlin’s toolbox at sea. Recently, we have seen several sabotage operations allegedly conducted by Russia & its allies, especially in the Baltic Sea region. Since 2023, there have been several underwater cables cut by ships’ anchors.
1/18
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,the Baltic Sea has become a hotspot for NATO-Russia rivalry. This rivalry ramped up in Sep 2022,when the Nord Stream gas pipelines were sabotaged by an unknown perpetrator (some blame a “pro-Ukraine group”, others, the Russians).
2/18
These sabotage operations in the Baltic Sea now target critical infrastructure like Internet and energy cables, links that are vital for European communication and trade. Russia and its allies allegedly use these acts to test NATO’s resilience and response.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the absolute state of X in January 2025. Since its acquisition by Elon Musk, this platform has rapidly transformed into his personal political tool and a breeding ground for hate speech and disinformation.
1/22
Not everyone is following this shitshow as closely as I am, so I thought it would be good to write a summary of all the changes that have happened on this forum and outside of it. These changes have drastically changed how the platform operates and who gets “a voice” here.
2/22
Elon’s team has been tweaking the algorithm many times after the takeover. One of these tweaks happened already around Nov 2022, when the platform heavily suppressed the visibility of pro-Ukraine accounts. This change was then noticed & reported by many pro-Ukraine accounts.
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