In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a Russian-Norwegian mercenary, Yan Petrovsky AKA Voislav Torden AKA "Slavyan". He's best-known as the co-founder of the Rusich Group,for committing war crimes in Ukraine, and for trying to start a normal life after in Northern Europe.
1/20
Petrovsky lived his childhood in St. Petersburg, but moved to Norway in 2004 when his mother married a Norwegian. After graduating from university, he started working at the "True Metal Tattoo" tattoo parlor, a shop famous for its connections to many neo-Nazi organizations.
2/20
In 2010, the tattoo parlor was raided by the police. During the search, they found forged documents and weapons that belonged to another Russian neo-Nazi, Viacheslav Datsik. Petrovsky spent one month in custody, after which he was released due to lack of evidence.
3/20
In 2011, he met another notorious neo-Nazi, Alexey Milchakov, at a paramilitary training camp of the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM). RIM has trained far-right militias around Europe and it's designed as a terrorist group by both Canada and the US:
In Jun 2014, Petrovsky and Milchakov found the Rusich Group, a neo-Nazi paramilitary group, which was quickly sent to fight against the Ukrainian army in Donbas, Ukraine.
The group took part in the ambush of the Ukrainian Aidar Battalion in Sep 2014. Rusich later published a video of Aidar's leader, Ivan Issyk. Rusich members had carved a neo-Nazi symbol kolovrat to his cheek. Few days later, he was interviewed by pro-Russian propagandist...
6/20
..Graham Phillips. At this point, Issyk's body was covered in burns & he clearly violated journalistic ethics by "interviewing" a seriously wounded prisoner. Issyk was later abducted from the hospital & murdered, after which his organs were cut off and shuffled in his body.
7/20
In 2015, Rusich left the Donbas and Petrovsky returned to Norway. In a video recorded in the same year, both Milchakov and Petrovsky admit to killing Ukrainian prisoners. He allegedly killed 6 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured in the battle near Luhansk in 2014.
8/20
In 2016, he was arrested at the home of a leading Nordic Resistance Movement (also trained by the Russian Imperial Movement) member Ronny Bårdsen in Norway for violating immigration laws and was deported. Norwegian authorities called him a "threat to the national security".
9/20
He returned to Russia, where he trained Belarusian children combat skills, including proficiency in knife-fighting, tactics, hand-to-hand combat, and shooting.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Petrovsky also later took part in some traditional "viking ritual".
10/20
During 2016,ICC completed their preliminary investigation and opened a criminal case against Milchakov & Petrovsky for their war crimes and "participation in terrorist organization" on Ukrainian soil. In 2022, they were also sanctioned by the US for their "special cruelty".
11/20
Ukrainian Myrotvorets has also suggested that Petrovsky was fighting in Syria in 2017. Based on this report, he fought under a Russian unit that was led by a Norwegian.
He allegedly fought again in Ukraine in 2022, this time in the ranks of PMC Wagner.
12/20
On 20 Jul 2023, he was arrested by the Finnish police in the Helsinki-Vantaa airport, shortly before their flight to Nice, France. Earlier, Finnish authorities had given Petrovsky a residence permit under his new name, Voislav Torden. His wife had been accepted to study...
13/20
..in a Finnish polytechnic university. This also allowed Yan & their three kids to get the permit for one year. According to Petrovsky's lawyer, he wanted his children to "obtain Nordic education", and they were going to visit their relatives in France before settling down.
14/20
Wagner-connected TG channel "Grey Zone" has complained about the arrest of Petrovsky, and they claimed that he was "abducted by the NATO special forces". They also organized a crowdfunding effort for Petrovsky's legal fund,which was accompanied with a message from his wife.
15/20
Ironically, the group that's responsible for torture, abductions and other war crimes and has called for the genocide of Ukrainian people, are suddenly interested in international law.
16/
I have previously written about the "Kremlin kids", the wealthy children who live a glamorous life in Europe and in the US while their parents threaten these countries with nuclear weapons on Russian media:
It seems Petrovsky and his wife are no exceptions in this sense: the former committed war crimes and killed Ukrainians en masse, and now they want the "Nordic education" for themselves and for their children. He even plans to apply for asylum in Finland.
18/20
These people want the "best" of both worlds - they want to keep their xenophobic, "traditional" Russkiy Mir world view, but they also want the culture and comfort of the West.
And at the moment, it seems that they're getting it.
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.