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
.@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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
...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
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
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
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.
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
Oh, and one more question: What is your new website with the logo Z about and does it comply with the German law?
In today’s Vatnik Soup and the “Degenerate Russia” series, I’ll show you the brutal reality of Russian war crimes, in particular the horrific tortures and sexual abuses of children, women and men.
Buckle up, this one is not for the faint-hearted.
1/24
For over a decade now and as part of their “firehose of falsehood” propaganda strategy, Russia has been spreading false narratives targeted at right-wing/conservative audiences, portraying russia as a bastion of Christian, traditional,family values.
In the previous “degenerate Russia” series we discussed Russia’s insanely high divorce rates, rampant domestic violence, high murder rates, thriving neo-Nazi culture, corruption of the Orthodox Church, and their massive demographic problem:
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explore how Russia is working with Iran, and how the recent Israel–US strikes on Iran could affect the war in Ukraine. Iran has been one of Russia’s key allies in their genocidal war, but in reality the partnership is deeply one-sided.
1/21
Historically, Russia/USSR has been involved in numerous wars in the Middle East, invading Afghanistan for nearly a decade and desperately trying to keep Syria’s authoritarian leader, al-Assad, in power before his eventual downfall.
2/21
While initially supportive of Israel, the Soviet Union quickly pivoted to backing its enemies, fueling antisemitism, terrorism, and chaos in an already tense region. At times, this meant near-open war, like when Soviet Air Force MiG-21s were shot down by Israel over Egypt.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce a Latvian politician and former MEP, Tatjana Ždanoka. She’s best-known for her history in the Communist Party of Latvia, for her pro-Russian politics in the country, and her connections to Russian intelligence.
1/22
Based on Ždanoka’s speeches and social media posts, she has a deep hatred towards the people of Latvia. The reason for this can only be speculated, but part of it could be due to her paternal family being killed by the Latvian Auxiliary Police,…
2/22
…a paramilitary force supported by the Nazis, during the early 1940s. Ždanoka became politically active in the late 80s. She was one of the leaders of Interfront, a political party that supported Latvia remaining part of the USSR.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce the main themes of Russian disinformation on TikTok. Each day, there are thousands of new videos promoting pro-Kremlin narratives and propaganda.
It’s worth noting that Russians can only access European TikTok via VPN.
1/10
There is currently a massive TikTok campaign aimed at promoting a positive image of Russia. The videos typically feature relatively attractive young women and focus on themes of nationalism and cultural heritage.
2/10
Ironically, many of these videos from Moscow or St. Petersburg are deceptively edited to portray Ukraine in a false light — claiming there is no war and that international aid is being funneled to corrupt elites.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about Finland and how pro-Kremlin propagandists have become more active in the Finnish political space since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For the first time since 2022, they’ve gained some political power in Finland.
1/16
Russia’s political strategy in countries with Russian-speaking minorities (such as Finland and the Baltics) is typically quite similar: it seeks to rally these minorities around issues like language and minority rights, and then frames the situation as oppression.
2/16
At the same time, Russian speakers are extremely wary and skeptical of local media, and instead tend to follow Russian domestic outlets like Russia-1 and NTV, thereby reinforcing an almost impenetrable information bubble.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the Ukrainian SBU’s “Spiderweb” operation and the main disinformation narrative vatniks have been spreading during the afterfall. While domestic Russian media stays silent, the vatniks and Russian milbloggers have been extremely loud.
1/20
This operation was probably the most impactful strike since the drowning of the Moskva, massively reducing Russia’s capability to bomb Ukrainian cities (or anyone else’s). It involved smuggling 117 FPV drones hidden in trucks into Russia. Once near airbases,…
2/20
…the roofs opened remotely, launching drones in synchronized waves to strike targets up to 4,000 km away. The mission took 18 months to plan. The unsuspecting Russian truck drivers who transported them had no idea they were delivering weapons deep behind their own lines.