In today's #vatniksoup I'll introduce a Bosnian social media personality and nurse, @200_zoka aka Lazo Z. He's best-known for his conspiratorial analysis on the war in Syria, and for his pro-Russian takes on the Russo-Ukrainian War.
This soup was a NAFO collaboration.
1/20
.@200_zoka belongs to the "big three" of pro-Russian Twitter analysts/political commentators, the other two being a German tanker bridge attendant @trollstoy88 aka Richard Z, and Austrian IT support guy, @GeromanAT.
The former was introduced here:
But this "zuppa del giorno" is just as much about Lazo's catfishing personality as it is about him. For a long time, Lazo used pictures of an young and attractive Russian girl as his profile picture and in his tweets. This strategy of using attractive yet fake images to...
3/20
...attract online audiences is called catfishing, and it's been used online since the birth of the Internet. Recent developments in filters and deep fakes has made it easier for people to catfish for donations and attention online.
4/20
One better-known example if this kind of activity was the 50-year-old Japanese biker dude, who used these filters to make him appear as a young, attractive girl.
5/20
Lazo's fake persona was a Russian powerlifter and propaganda figure called Maryana Naumova. She's been Russia's propaganda sweetheart since 2015, and you might remember her from sending a video greeting to @Schwarzenegger after he appealed Russia to stop their illegal war.
6/20
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Naumova was traveling around invaded areas in Ukraine, producing propaganda for the Russian masses. She's since participated in actual war activities, too. Naumova is member of Russia's communist party and a Stalin fan girl.
7/20
In addition to idolizing Stalin, Maryana has shown her support for war criminals like Slobodan Milosevich, Bashar al-Assad, and Kim Jong Un. As a cherry on top, she's appeared on various occasions together with Russian neo-Nazi and Rusich leader, Aleksei Milchakov.
8/20
It is not known if Ms. Naumova was aware of this questionable honor.Anyway, let's go back to Lazo: his expertise on war comes from his relatively long career in working as a nurse near the Bosnian town of Mostar (even though his Twitter profile says he's in Baranda, Serbia).
9/20
Soon after reaching the ripe age of 18, he started simping online for Syria's al-Assad and Putin, and their war effort in Syria. He painted the NGO group White Helmets, who were responsible in aiding civilians in war zones, as terrorists and paid actors.
10/20
The White Helmets were deliberately targeted by the Russian and al-Assad's troops in so-called "double tap" attacks, and they've been targeted aggressively by pro-Russian and pro-al-Assad propagandists like @VanessaBeeley.
11/20
Zoka's also denied the use of chemical weapons against civilians by the al-Assad regime - a fact that has been confirmed by several reports by the OPCW.
12/20
His account started growing quickly after Russia launched their full-scale invasion Ukraine in Feb 2022. Most of his posts are videos from the front lines, usually coming from a Russian perspective.
13/20
Like @trollstoy88, Lazo posts a lot of photos of (and probably dreams about) Russian women visiting or working in the front lines.
In one particularly disgusting incident, he posted a photo of a Ukrainian girl, stating that she's "Russian".
14/20
His allegiance to the Kremlin is obvious from his posts, and he for example celebrated Wagner's capture of Bakhmut, a demolished city with only symbolic value.
Like Naumova, Lazo also seems to be simping the Russian neo-Nazi Milchakov:
Lazo seems to be a Wagner fanboy, and he was part of the group that was skeptical about Prigozhin's mutiny against Putin, stating that he'd "never threatened Putin".He's also urged Putin to buy the new Shahed 149, the Iranian drone used to attack civilian targets in Ukraine.16/20
He's also spread a lie about Ukraine requesting blood from NATO, claiming that the blood (that was never requested) was infected with HIV and hepatitis B & C. His claims were later fact-checked, which made Lazo a happy man - he even asked for more articles that mention him.
17/20
After Shiite militia abducted Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, Zoka made fun of her situation, hinting that she might have been raped by her captors. He's also celebrated the death of US marines, only hoping there would've been more casualties.
18/20
Lazo is a controversial figure - he spreads disinformation benefiting Russia' genocidal war, but at the same time his a thirsty young man and momma's boy who spends a lot of time with his parents. But this doesn't make his message any less damaging, as with...
19/20
... over 175 000 followers he has a huge reach on Twitter. I actually have a hunch that these rather radical ideas and support of totalitarian regimes might come from his father, who celebrated al-Assad's birthday together with Lazo.
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.