In today's #vatniksoup I'll talk about Russian Nazis and introduce Russian neo-Nazi movements and paramilitary groups like Rusich and PMC Wagner. They're best-known for being funded by the Kremlin and being responsible for the "denazification" in Ukraine.
1/24
Like in many European countries, the white power skinhead movement became a notable phenomenon in the Russian far-right. This movement was intensified, in addition to high unemployment rate and awful education, by the First Chechen War and the imperialistic rhetoric...
2/24
...of the Russian government. Russian officials "dealt with" the neo-Nazi problem between 1998-2000, and it was used to justify anti-extremism legislation, that was later used to prosecute Russian liberals.
It was also used to launch an initiative called...
3/24
..."managed nationalism", an attempt to mobilize neo-Nazi groups to counter and resist any anti-Putin coalitions and opposition.
This cynical yet clever initiative had Vladislav Surkov's fingerprints all over it:
In 2005, Surkov launched a pro-Putin youth movement called "Walking Together", which later collaborated with the most powerful skinhead gang, OB88. To prevent a "color revolution" in Russia, Surkov turned the movement into a powerful group called "Nashi".
5/24
Nashi recruited underground neo-Nazi gang members, football hooligans and other low-life scum into their ranks. The organization later separated into two neo-Nazi groups, "Young Russia" and "Locals" that became the link between Russia's far-right and the Kremlin.
6/24
Around the same time, the Kremlin tried to fabricate a "neo-Nazi"/Banderite problem in Ukraine with the help of Putin's friend Viktor Medvedchuk.Medvedchuk paid pro-Russian agitator Eduard Kovalenko to act as a neo-Nazi supporter of Viktor Yushchenko:
Around 2008 Aleksei Navalny tried to mobilize democrats and radical nationalists against Putin. Putin then sent his own neo-Nazi thugs, "Russkii Obraz" (RO), against Navalny's thugs. RO Nazis were also responsible for the killings of journalists and human rights lawyers.
8/24
Once Russkii Obraz was dissolved, its veteran members became powerful figures in Putin's regime, including Anna Trigga who worked for Yevgeny Prigozhin's troll farm, and Andrei Gulyutin, editor of the pro-Putin nationalist blog Ridus.
9/24
The domestic Nazi problem in Russia was extremely serious in the early 2000s & it's worth noting that between 2000 and 2017,far-right political violence in Russia was 7 times higher than in Western Europe. "Managed nationalism" was just an attempt to redirect this violence.
10/24
Far-right activists & neo-Nazis often take part in military conflicts & that was also the case with the war in Ukraine. The best-known far-right, neo-Nazi paramilitary groups in Ukraine are PMC Wagner and its subgroup, Rusich Group. Both of them participate in the conflict.
11/24
The former was found by Yevgeny Prigozhin and neo-Nazi Dmitry Utkin, who were key players in the 2023 mutiny against Putin. Rusich is led by Aleksei Milchakov, a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi who's commited numerous war crimes:
Rusich's symbol is the Sonnenrad, an ancient European symbol hijacked by neo-Nazis and other far-right groups. You might have seen the symbol in fan-made promotional video for DeSantis' presidency - the one that was also shared by his campaign staffer @njhochman.
13/24
Rusich has expressed genocidal intentions towards Ukrainians by discussing on how to "solve the Ukrainian question", how to exterminate Ukrainian children with scientific experiments, and how to force Ukrainian women serve as concubines to Russian men.
14/24
They even called for Russian soldiers to be "given 2-3 girls aged 10 or below" as sexual slaves. They've also stated that "Ukrainian women dream about being raped by Russian soldiers", and that raping them is an "act of charity".
15/24
Another prominent but not so well-known Russian, ultra-nationalist organization is the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM). The group promotes "political orthodoxy" and are in a symbiotic state with the Kremlin: as long as they don't commit domestic terrorism, ...
16/24
...they're free to offer troops and train militants abroad. RIM has been connected to Russian intelligence, and they've provided paramilitary training to extreme far-right militias at least in the US, Poland, Finland, Germany and Sweden.
17/24
Of course there are other, smaller Russian neo-Nazi groups fighting in Ukraine, too. Some of these include the Russian Orthodox Army, Slavic Union, Black Hundreds, Dugin's Eurasian Youth Union, and Somali and Sparta battalions.
18/24
Many of these groups have been involved in some form in the Russo-Ukrainian War since 2014 and many of them were integrated into the pro-Russian separatists in Donbas.
19/24
Many neo-Nazis consider military conflict a tempting possibility. Some of them are drawn to violence, but many young, untrained volunteers also consider it a "rite of passage" on a battlefield. More experienced fighters, who are often unable to return to civil life, join...
20/24
...the ranks as mercenaries to earn a living. Russia also utilizes the prison population by recruiting murderers and rapists to fight in some of their PMCs like Wagner.
The Kremlin uses Nazism, far-right militias and Nazi propaganda in extremely cynical ways, including:
21/24
1) using it domestically to control and attack the opposition. They have no problem in dealing with neo-Nazis when they can be used as a tool in domestic politics, 2) training foreign fringe militias and extremist groups that can then incite violence and unrest, ...
22/24
3) blaming others for "Nazism" and using it as casus belli. This is what they did in Ukraine, 4) funding of far-right politics and politicians in Europe, and 5) using Nazism as a domestic propaganda tool. Putin still promotes USSR/Russia as the savior against evil Nazism.
23/24
To conclude: the only country in need of denazification is Russia.
Now let us watch pro-Kremlin propagandists fill the comments with anecdotal evidence and framed/photoshopped images of "evil Ukrainian Nazi-Banderites".
I forgot to mention a crucial element of Russian nazism: Russian National Unity (RNU; RNE in Russian), founded in 1990 by ultra-nationalist Alexander Barkashov.
The Wiki article on the movement is quite comprehensive:
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the agenda-setting and flood of disinformation that spread on X and other platforms right after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s far from the first or last time a tragedy has been weaponized for political purposes.
1/18
Every major political event, especially those involving violence, attracts massive attention. In the immediate aftermath, reliable information is scarce, making it highly vulnerable to both coordinated and improvised disinformation campaigns.
2/18
As I’ve mentioned in my previous soups and lectures, in disinformation campaigns, being first with a narrative is crucial, as people often remember the first version best — psychology studies show it sets the mental schema, and later updates rarely overwrite it.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American social media personality David Freeman, AKA Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman). He’s best known for spreading political disinformation on X and shamelessly sucking up to Trump, Putin, and other authoritarian leaders.
1/22
David is a textbook example of someone profiting from MAGA grievance politics. He uses extreme, provocative language to farm engagement on X and never hesitates to flatter anyone who might give him more exposure — or money.
2/22
But David wasn’t always like this. At some point, in his mid-40s, he even tried a real job: he trained to become a cop. He spent three years with the Metro Transit PD, but after that he either got fired or quit, and never looked back.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian-Estonian businessman, Oleg Ossinovski. He is best-known for his deep ties to Russian rail and energy networks, shady cross-border dealings, and for channeling his wealth into Estonian politics.
1/14
Oleg made his fortune via Spacecom Trans & Skinest Rail, both deeply tied to Russia’s rail system. Most of this is through Globaltrans Investments PLC, a Cyprus-based firm with 62% held via Spacecom and tens of millions in yearly profits.
2/14
Ossinovski’s Russian-linked ventures made him Estonia’s richest man in 2014, with an estimated fortune of ~€300M. His business empire stretched across railways, oil via Alexela shares, and Russian bitumen imports from Help-Oil, a supplier to the Defense Ministry.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Swiss/French writer, Alain Bonnet, aka Alain Soral (@officielsoral). He’s best known for his rabid antisemitism and for his pathetic support for all the worst authoritarian regimes from Russia to North Korea.
1/22
Alain’s childhood was problematic, as his father has been characterized as a “narcissistic pervert” who beat his children and did jail time for fraud. Alain himself has said he was “programmed to be a monster.” Born Alain Bonnet, he took the stage name of his sister,…
2/22
… actress Agnès Soral. She wasn’t too happy about this, commenting “How would you like to be called Agnès Hitler?”. Like many grifters, he became a pick-up/seduction artist writer, à la late Gonzalo Lira, writing books and even making a B-movie, “Confessions d’un dragueur”.
3/22
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.