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 #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss the Wagner Group, its founders Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, and the mutiny they started on 23 Jun 2023. The event marked the climax of the Wagner Group–Russian MoD conflict, and finally led to the deaths of Prigozhin and Utkin.
1/22
Wagner has been used in many conflicts around the world, but they came to global prominence during the war in Donbas in 2014-2015. Wagnerites helped the Donbas separatists fight against the Ukrainians during the conflict, which helped Putin to “outsource” the insurrection.
2/22
The group doesn’t have any central ideology, but many of its members and leaders have ties to various neo—Nazi movements in Russia. For example, Wagner leader Dmitry Utkin had several Nazi symbols tattooed on his body. Neo—nazi group Rusich has also fights as part of Wagner.
3/22
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an Amsterdam-based propaganda channel, Bonanza Media (@bonanzamedia2). It’s best-known for producing & spreading online pro-Kremlin propaganda videos while closely coordinating & collaborating with the Russian intelligence agency GRU.
1/19
Russian intelligence has been extremely active in the Netherlands for a long time. For example in 2018, four GRU agents were caught while trying to hack into OPCW,an organization that monitors the use of chemical weapons. In addition, the International Criminal Court (ICC)…
2/19
…and the MH17 investigation have become targets for the Russian intelligence and propaganda operations. These operations are often complemented with “investigative journalism” media outlets, that often echo the Kremlin’s propaganda and disinformation.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll talk about the recent EU elections and what are their implications for both the Kremlin and Ukraine. Right-wing political parties, some pro-Kremlin, won a lot of seats around Europe, and this result can also change the EU’s stance on Ukraine.
1/19
But before we start, I want to promote a truck fundraiser I'm doing together with the fantastic @ArturRehi and @69thSB.
Our goal is 20 000 USD, and you can contribute to this important fundraiser here:
EU’s support of Ukraine is essential for their survival against genocidal Russia. So far,this support has been delayed mostly by Orban’s Hungary (& to some degree, Fico’s Slovakia). Now, this support will probably be challenged by many new members of the European Parliament.
3/19
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss a specific propaganda/disinformation that the Kremlin likes to use – antisemitism. I also talk about how the Russian society itself has become riddled with antisemitism & how this has led to a decrease in Jewish population in the country.
1/19
Russian antisemitism works on many levels, and their narratives vary depending whether they’re targeting a local audience or people in Europe and the US. For example for the latter, Russia attempts to create a false narrative of Ukraine being an antisemitic “Nazi state”.
2/19
But before diving deeper, let’s look at a survey data of Russians in 2023: Nearly 30 million Russians harbour antisemitic attitudes, and 15% of those surveyed believed that “Jews were responsible for most of the world’s wars.” 38% think that the Jews have...
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce a Ukrainian media personality and propagandist, Diana Panchenko (@Panchenko_X). She’s best-known for betraying her own country by peddling anti-Zelenskyy and anti-Ukraine propaganda and disinformation for the Kremlin.
1/22
Panchenko was born in 1988 in the Mykolaev Oblast in Ukrainian SSR in 1988. She studied publishing and editing at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and later graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a degree in law.
2/22
After graduating, Diana worked briefly for the news site . Between 2010 and 2015, Panchenko was a presenter for KyivTV, but she found her true calling as a pro-Kremlin propagandist after she was hired by a national “news channel” called NewsOne.