In today's #vatniksoup I'll introduce an Indian political analyst, poet, singer, and patriot (all his words) Atul Mishra and his network, The Frustrated Indian (@TheAtulMishra & @FrustIndian). He's best-known for his awful pro-Russian takes on the Russo-Ukrainian War.
1/18
As I have said before, Western analysts and disinformation researchers have a blind spot in the Global South, where pro-Kremlin propaganda thrives and Russia is somewhat popular. For example, in India, 57% of the population sees Russia as in somewhat/very favorable light.
2/18
The Frustrated Indian tries to profit from this particular niche by providing a false and made-up image of European politics and of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The whole scheme works on making pro-Russian, outrageous claims that works on lies and half-truths.
3/18
Mishra's network is actually a family of accounts, including @tfipost and @tfistore. This network seems to be artificially inflated, as most of them have a quite big following (the main channel has 226k followers) but most of the tweets have very low engagement (if any).
4/18
The network also has a strong multi-channel approach. They have a YouTube channel with 429 000 followers, and they're on IG, Telegram and Facebook. They also have their own video streaming site, TFIGlobal, which seems to be just another ghost town.
5/18
Mishra is pushing hard the for monetization of his propaganda network. He's selling brand partnership, "official TFI merchandise", and begs for subscribers on Patreon (he has currently 4). All this with whopping 15 employees and less monthly impressions than #vatniksoup!
6/18
The whole network was almost closed down the network a year ago. This speaks for the artificial inflation of the network too, as YT channels with +300 000 followers should be able to monetize quite well already.
7/18
He seems to be a huge fanboy of Putin's, and he's even written an article claiming that Putin is a "cult figure" in India. He thinks that Putin is some kind of "master strategist" who makes no mistakes, and that he's just playing the West with his 4-d chess, just like Trump.
8/18
When it comes to Ukraine, Mishra's predictions are quite grim: he thinks that its allies are fading and its changes are fleeting. He's also suggested that post-war Ukraine will be "politically controlled by Moscow and economically by Beijing."
9/18
One day after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Mishra made a wild prediction: Russia captures Kyiv, Zelensky flees the country, becomes a social media influencer. Ukraine welcomes Russia, group of women welcome Russian soldiers and tend to the wounded.
10/18
TFI's political and military analysis are simply utter crap. Don't believe me? Here are some examples: their expert analyst Ansh Pandey suggested that the Prigozhin mutiny could've been a "premeditated move" which would allow Wagner to attack Kyiv from Belarus. Pretty wild.
11/18
TFI loves to bash and defame Zelensky.For example, they suggest that Ukrainians are planning to overthrow him,and that his approval rate is "lowest in decades" - as of Feb 2023,91% of Ukrainians either somewhat or strongly approve of Zelensky's actions - higher than Putin's.12/18
Atul and his pals also went with the "Zaluzhny dead" BS, but they took the whole thing to a new level - according to TFI, Zaluzhny was "probably assassinated" by Zelensky, and that the person we now see in media is actually his body double.
13/18
In Sep 2022, TFI speculated who would become the next Ukrainian president after "Kyiv falls". Their candidate was Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch universally hated by most Ukrainians. He was swapped to the Azovstal defenders in a prisoner swap in the same month.
14/18
As is tradition in India, TFI and Mishra also compare Ukraine to Pakistan, India's biggest geopolitical rival. I'm sure this rhetoric works extremely well in India, and it might garner some following.
15/18
And the nonsense doesn't stop there. There's "news" about Finland stopping aid to Ukraine (it didn't, we give more than ever), Putin potentially activating the "Kaliningrad module", Ukraine's plans to allow same-sex marriage and of course the sanctions not hurting Russia.
16/18
Now, @TheAtulMishra, maybe you can answer some questions: as a poet, singer and reciter, what are your qualifications for geopolitics? What about your employees? Why do you purposefully spread lies and disinformation? Is it for (low) profit or just for fun?
17/18
And why on earth do you have own YouTube channel for Canadian disinformation? Anything to make that extra buck? And when will you do a correction to your article stating that Finland and Sweden will never be NATO countries?
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explain the Alaska Fiasco and how it marks the peak of Trump’s two-year betrayal of Ukraine. What was sold as “peace talks” turned into a spectacle of weakness, humiliation, empty promises, and photo-ops that handed Putin exactly what he wanted.
1/24
Let’s start with the obvious: Trump desperately wants the gold medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, mainly because Obama got one. That’s why he’s now LARPing as a “peace maker” in every conflict: Israel-Gaza, Azerbaijan-Armenia, India-Pakistan, and of course Ukraine-Russia.
2/24
Another theory is that Putin holds kompromat — compromising material such as videos or documents — that would put Trump in an extremely bad light. Some have suggested it could be tied to the Epstein files or Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about engagement farming: a cynical social media tactic to rack up likes, shares, and comments. From rage farming to AI-powered outrage factories, engagement farming is reshaping online discourse and turning division into profit.
1/23
Engagement farming is a social media tactic aimed at getting maximum likes, shares, and comments, with truth being optional. It thrives on provocative texts, images, or videos designed to spark strong reactions, boost reach, and turn online outrage into clicks and cash.
2/23
One subset of engagement farming is rage farming: a tactic built to provoke strong negative emotions through outrageous or inflammatory claims. By triggering anger or moral outrage, these posts often generate 100s or even 1,000s of heated comments, amplifying their reach.
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
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
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.
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
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
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.
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
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
Then there's the monetization part. This particular account sells "pencil art", which again are just AI-generated slop.
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
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
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.