Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Jul 16, 2023 24 tweets 14 min read Read on X
In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a social media personality and LARPer, @trollstoy88 AKA Richard Z. He's best-known for acting to be Russian, and for his pro-Russian tweets on the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Most of the research presented here was done by the NAFO Team.

1/22 Image
.@Trollstoy88 belongs to the "big three" of pro-Russian Twitter analysts/political commentators, the other two being a Serbian nurse, @200_zoka, and Austrian IT support guy, @GeromanAT.

There's also @WarMonitors, but he seems to be more anti-NATO than pro-Russia.

2/22
Image
Image
For a long time, Dick's been claiming to be Russian. In reality, he lives in West Germany in a small town near Düsseldorf and Cologne. Ironically, he's even called for Russia to invade Berlin, declaring that it's actually a Baltic Prussian city named Veletian.

3/22


Image
Image
Image
Image
His tweets are something you'd expect from an actual Russian: praise of Putin, Russia's military and its culture (especially women). He really embraces the "third Holy Rome" versus the "decadent West" idea, and regards Putin as some kind of savior of humankind.

4/22


Image
Image
Image
Image
Dick also often overestimates and praises the Russian equipment, mocks Zelensky, blames NATO and the West for the war. And of course he blames the West for the "coup" that didn't take place during the Revolution of Dignity in 2014.

5/22


Image
Image
Image
Image
Interestingly, he's also played the reverse card on the genocide accusations, stating that Ukrainians and Russians are brother-nations, and that it's actually the West that's committing "world genocide" and "will be stopped".

6/22
Image
Image
In his analysis, Richard relies heavily on Douglas Macgregor's views on the Russo-Ukrainian War. As many of you know, Dougie has been wrong about absolutely everything, starting from the first days of the war.

Per Macgregor, Ukrainians have lost over 300 000 men already.

7/22

Image
Image
Image
He's focused on another new narrative spread by the conspiratorial wannabe-president RFK Jr., who claimed that there was an agreement between Russia and Ukraine made in Apr 2022, which caused Russia to withdraw its troops from around Kyiv.

Now that's some strong Copium!

8/22 Image
Dickie is all about them "Ukrainian Nazis". He likes to talk about "institutionalized nazi structures", claiming that it's a "continuation from ww2 period", and that these "evil Nazis" were sent to administrate Eastern Ukraine after the 2014 "coup". Man he sounds Russian!

9/22
Image
Image
As the number 88 in Dicky's nickname doesn't refer to his birth year, I wonder what it could be reference to? Only thing that comes to my mind is a certain failed Austrian painter that later became a German politician. He's also referred to number 1488 in one of his tweets.
10/22 Image
He condemned the Prigozhin/Wagner mutiny very strongly, declaring that "those who did it will have to pay for their deeds." If he was actually from Russia, he'd known there are absolutely no consequences for the mutineers and/or their leaders.

11/22 Image
He's also knowingly or unknowingly shared videos and photos out of context & has been struck with Community Notes on a few occasions. As is tradition,he hasn't made any corrections, but I mean, the man is lying about his whereabouts so I'm not sure if all that even matters.
12/22
Image
Image
Richard has attacked NAFO on many occasions. As usual, his attacks focus on appearances only, even though Dicky himself isn't built like a Greek statue.

But that's just how it often goes with pro-Russian pundits: when you're out of arguments, go for the irrelevant stuff.

13/22

Image
Image
Image
Dick has another Twitter account, @Mad_in_Germany. The content is pretty much the same, but there are two big differences: he writes in German and absolutely no one cares about his tweets. Lesson learned again: for maximum engagement, it's better to LARP as a Russian.

14/22


Image
Image
Image
Image
Dickie has also launched a some sort of "free speach [sic] social media" site, where "all political views are respected." He's posting the same content on his Meld content, but as expected, his site is mostly a ghost town with just a few active users.

15/22 Image
Dick also often posts with his German, non-LARP accounts about the right-wing, populist political party Alternative für Deutschland, or AfD for short. They're best-known for their close ties to the Kremlin, and they've been strongly against the sanctions. In Sep 2022,five..
16/22
Image
Image
...AfD politicians traveled to Moscow and planned a trip to the Russian-controlled areas in Donbas, Ukraine. One of their MEPs, @KrahMax has often appeared as a commentator on RT and also on CCP-controlled People's Daily.

17/22

Image
Image
Image
Another member of AfD, Markus Frohnmaier, was described to be under Kremlin's "absolute control" in a 2017 strategy paper. He's also named as a recipient of financial benefits in OCCRP investigation of Russia's International Agency for Current Policy.

18/22
Image
Image
Imagine being a +60-year-old tanker bridge attendant from West Germany, who pretends to be a Russian political commentator. At the same you're living in a NATO country, and your taxes are used to support it. Dickie, are you sure you don't want to move to Russia for real?

19/22

Image
Image
Image
Richard is solid reinforcement to the rather strong pro-Russian fifth column in Germany, and his strength is probably in his double-role - he's actively spreading disinformation and propaganda on two languages and under many accounts.



20/22 https://t.co/AxeJku9tc3

Image
Image
The thing that I appreciate about Richard is that he doesn't block people easily.

Now, Mr. @trollstoy88, maybe you can answer my question: Why lie? Why pretend to be something you're not? Is it a (sexual) fantasy, or some kind of personality disorder? Just curious.

21/22 Image
Oh, and one more question: What is your new website with the logo Z about and does it comply with the German law?

Again, just curious.

22/22 Image
Support my work:
Past soups: https://t.co/mL5vEcfMcQbuymeacoffee.com/PKallioniemi
vatniksoup.com
CORRECTION TO 19/22:

"Imagine being a +60-year-old tanker bridge attendant"

should say:

"Imagine being a +50-year-old tanker bridge attendant"

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Pekka Kallioniemi

Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @P_Kallioniemi

Aug 6
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the autocratic concept of “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars”: the idea that the leader is wise and just, but constantly sabotaged by corrupt advisors. This narrative shields the ruler from blame, and it’s used by both Putin and Trump today.

1/20 Image
The phrase “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars” (Царь хороший, бояре плохие), also known as Naïve Monarchism, refers to a long-standing idea in Russian political culture: the ruler is good and benevolent, but his advisors are corrupt, incompetent and responsible for all failures.

2/20 Image
From this perception, any positive action taken by the government is viewed as being an accomplishment of the benevolent leader, whereas any negative one is viewed as being caused by lower-level bureaucrats or “boyars”, without the approval of the leader.

3/20 Image
Read 21 tweets
Jul 28
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian politician and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Kiriyenko. He’s best known for running both domestic and foreign disinformation and propaganda operations for the Kremlin.

1/20 Image
On paper, and in photos, Kiriyenko is just as boring as most of the Kremlin’s “political technologists”: between 2005-2016 he headed the Rosatom nuclear energy company, but later played a leading role in the governance of Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine.

2/20 Image
Image
What is a political technologist? In Russia, they’re spin doctors & propaganda architects who shape opinion, control narratives, and manage elections — often by faking opposition, staging events, and spreading disinfo to maintain Putin’s power and the illusion of democracy.

3/20 Image
Read 21 tweets
Jul 27
Let me show you how a Pakistani (or Indian, they're usually the same) AI slop farm/scam operates. The account @designbonsay is a prime example: a relatively attractive, AI-generated profile picture and a ChatGPT-style profile description are the first red flags.

1/5 Image
The profile's posts are just generic engagement farming, usually using AI-generated photos of celebrities or relatively attractive women.

These posts are often emotionally loaded and ask the user to interact with them ("like and share if you agree!").

2/5 Image
Image
Then there's the monetization part. This particular account sells "pencil art", which again are just AI-generated slop.

Country code for the phone number is in Pakistan.

3/5 Image
Read 5 tweets
Jul 15
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American lawyer and politician, Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee). He’s best-known for opposing the aid to Ukraine, undermining NATO by calling the US to withdraw from the alliance, and for fighting with a bunch of braindead dogs online.

1/21 Image
Like many of the most vile vatniks out there, “Based Mike” is a lawyer by profession. He hails from the holy land of Mormons, Utah, where he faces little political competition, allowing him to make the most outrageous claims online without risking his Senate seat.

2/21 Image
Before becoming a senator, Mike fought to let a nuclear waste company dump Italian radioactive waste in Utah, arguing it was fine if they just diluted it. The state said no, the public revolted, and the courts told poor Mikey to sit down.

3/21 Image
Read 23 tweets
Jul 14
While Ukrainians are terror bombed on a daily basis, rich Russians live in Europe like kings and queens.

This young lady lives in Portugal, and travels freely to Ibiza...
...the Alps...
... and of course Paris.
Read 5 tweets
Jul 7
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American national security policy professional and the current under secretary of defense for policy, Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby). He’s best-known for fighting with cartoon dogs online and for halting military aid to Ukraine.

1/21 Image
Elbridge "Cheese" Colby earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Before entering government, he worked at top think tanks and in the intelligence community, focusing on nuclear policy and strategic planning.

2/21 Image
Image
Cheese quickly became a key voice for a “China First” strategy, arguing the US must prioritize military buildup in Asia over commitments in Europe or the Middle East. He sees (or saw, rather) Taiwan as the core test of US credibility.

3/21 Image
Image
Read 23 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(