In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a Swiss writer and editor of Serbian origin, Slobodan Despot (@despotica). He's best-known for his conspiratorial views, for translating and publishing prominent far-right figures, and for supporting and spreading Kremlin propaganda.
1/21
Frequent guest of both extreme right and mainstream media in Switzerland & France, Despot originally gained notoriety for his denial of Srebrenica genocide, in which more than 8000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed. These killings were led by Serbian Ratko Mladić.
2/21
Despot's world view has been influenced by Alexander Dugin and Eduard Limonov of National Bolsheviks (Nazbols in short). He's been involved in publishing pro-Kremlin propaganda in French-speaking media pretty much since then. For a long period, he worked as a translator,...
3/21
... and even translated the works of Slobodan Milosevic; a former president of Serbia, who allegedly got his political opponents murdered, and who was later charged with genocide, deportation, murder and torture (among other things) at the Hague.
4/21
In his publication Editions Xenia, Despot published translated works of Ted "Unabomber" Kaczynski, a portrait of French antisemitic comedian Dieudonné, and writings of French conspiracy theorist, white nationalist and inventor of the "Great Replacement" theory, Renaud Camus.
5/21
Slobo's best friend is Oskar Freysinger, a Swiss anti-Islam and right-wing politician who decorates his basement with Nazi flags. Ironically, he calls Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity a "Nazi" event. Freysinger also wore the St. George's ribbon during his 2016 Moscow trip.
6/21
As the communication officer for Freysinger,he was in a group of security consultants for canton Valais together with survivalist Piero San Giorgio. Later,San Giorgio's Nazi-inspired ableist discourse created public outrage & Freysinger lost the cantonal government elections.7/21
In his "funny" sketches on public Swiss TV, Despot combines criticizing Europe for sanctioning Russians, reminding that the sanctions breach Swiss neutrality, whitewashing Russians, blaming the mainstream media for brainwashing people and calling basically everybody a Nazi.
8/21
When Putin was disinvited from Davos World Economic Forum, Despot commented on forum's effects on the environment, sliding in his "humorous" discourse barely veiled threats of Wagner invasion or missile strikes in neighboring countries.
9/21
In an interview to Belgian conspiracy theory website Kairos, Despot stated that Ukraine was ready to sign a Turkey-mediated deal trading land against ceasefire, but NATO (through Boris Johnson) did not allow Zelenskyy to sign the truce.
10/21
Despot further declared that NATO's intention was to trigger a colored revolution in Russia and that Ukraine is fighting the war with foreign mercenaries, as there are no Ukrainian soldiers left.
11/21
He founded the Antipresse blog whose most famous achievement is an interview with Alexander Dugin by Swiss-Russian journalist Guy Mettan.
In his 1997 book "Foundations of Geopolitics", Dugin outlined the Russian geopolitics:
On X/Twitter, Slobodan has posted several controversial, albeit not unique, takes on both Ukraine and its leaders, as well as on Russia. According to him, Bucha was a false flag attack by the West to launch a World War 3 & the Izyum massacre was actually staged by Ukraine.
13/21
He's naturally stated that Zelenskyy is a puppet of foreign powers and holds no real power. He's also shared a fabricated tweet that depicts the @DefenceU account mocking Zelenskyy and calling for people to not vote for him - in English.
14/21
One of his most absurd claims was that the cold-blooded murder of Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov was a "propaganda attack on Putin". He also declared that the Biden administration "really needs a WW3" because of their failed policies.
15/21
As is tradition, Slobodan frequently shares Russian propaganda-sourced tropes about Nazis in Ukraine. He has no problem in sharing videos and pictures that have been debunked on several occasions to push his ridiculous pro-Kremlin agenda.
16/21
When not sharing bad Russian propaganda, Slobodan just shares conspiratorial "prophecies" from the most fringe blogs one can find. One of them concluded that unless Russia is victorious in their "SMO", we will enter the "Dark Ages".
He also spreads WEF-related theories.
17/21
In 2017, Slobodan Despot participated in the "anti-Davos" conference in Moldova, in which Eurasianists and far-right figures gathered to unveil an alternative to capitalism, replacing it with ultranationalist, far-right and conspiratorial ideas and policies.
18/21
To conclude, Slobodan Despot is a Serbian propagandist spreading his BS on french language Swiss media. It does not come as a surprise that a Srebrenica genocide denier and Milosevich apologist becomes a supporter of Putin's "traditional values", but what...
19/21
...is surprising is the fact that he gets so much attention and space in the Swiss media.
It is also rather surprising that the person who finds the decadent West so evil and repulsive, decides to live in one of its democracies.
20/21
Maybe NAFO could crowdsource Mr. Despot a flight from Geneva to Moscow for the 20th of Sep, so that he could live in his dream land? Slobodan, if you're interested, just send us your passport details and we're all set!
21/21
Thanks goes to @steve_racIoz, @poesjeinboots and @ArmaAlpina for helping me prepare this soupe de poisson à la rouille.
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.