In today's #vatniksoup, I'll discuss about one of the less-known events of the Russo-Ukrainian War: the 2014 Odessa clashes.
It's often used by pro-Kremlin propagandists to prove that the "neo-Nazis" in Ukraine were "persecuting" the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine.
1/22
The Odessa Trade Union House fire is not as widespread propaganda narrative, probably due to the lack of any US-involvement. It's still spread by Kremlin mouthpieces like @aaronjmate, who framed the incident as done by "neo-Nazis".
2/22
GRU asset and former RT journalist Yana Yerlashova even made a propaganda "documentary" of the event, putting the blame on the "Ukrainian neo-Nazis". The incident has been often used to incite unrest between the Ukrainian and Russian-speaking populations inside Ukraine.
3/22
In early 2014, the city of Odessa saw a lot of both pro-Ukraine and pro-Russia protests. On 26 Jan 2014, 2000 pro-Ukrainian protestors marched on the regional state administration building but were blocked off by the Yanukovych's men and other pro-Russian activists.
4/22
This type of confrontations continued over the next month, and on 19 Feb, the violence finally erupted. Around 100 unidentified men wearing masks and helmets, armed with baseball bats, attacked a pro-Ukraine demonstration. Two cameramen and three journalists were injured.
5/22
As we now know, the pro-Russian side was funded and supported by the Kremlin & especially by a Russian politician Sergey Glazyev. The so-called Glazyev tapes exposed that Glazyev was actively organizing and funding the pro-Russian movement in Kharkiv, Odessa & other cities.
6/22
After Yanukovych fled Kyiv, a pro-Russian mob armed with clubs and ranging from 5000 to 20 000 people protested on the streets of Odessa. Few days after this, a group of 300-500 protesters attempted to seize the Odesa Oblast Council building while it was holding a session.
7/22
The mob's playbook came directly from the Kremlin puppetmaster Vladislav Surkov - they replaced the Ukrainian flag with a Russian one, and demanded a referendum on the establishment of an "Odessa Autonomous Republic" - just like they did in Luhansk and Donetsk.
8/22
On 30 Mar 2014, Russian ultranationalist Anton Rayevsky was captured, arrested and deported from Ukraine for allegedly working for the Kremlin and organizing these pro-Russian events. They also found antisemitic and anti-Ukrainian materials in his possession.
9/22
Some pro-Russian keyboard warriors then tried to make the "Odessa Autonomous Republic" happen online, but the local pro-Russian actors had already jumped on to the Kremlin's next plan to make Odessa part of the wider federated state called "Novorossiya".
10/22
The tensions in the Odessa region remained high, and for example on 25 Apr 2014, a hand grenade was thrown at a joint pro-Ukrainian checkpoint, injuring seven people. Russian media reported the incident as an "accident due as a result of reckless behavior with weapons".
11/22
The pro-Russian side had agreed to dismantle their camp on 2 May on Kulykove Pole, in front of the Trade Union House, in preparation for the Victory Parade. The police was trusted to detain the radical activists from both sides while avoiding any excessive use of force.
12/22
At around 2 PM,1500 football fans and ultras, along with right-wing Right Sector members and ordinary people gathered for a pro-Ukraine protest at the Sobornaya Square.They were then attacked by 300-strong mob of pro-Russian, Odesskaya Druzhina members with bats & firearms.
13/22
As was later reported, the police did absolutely nothing to keep these two groups separated, and a report by the Council of Europe even suggested that the pro-Russian protestors and the police were secretly colluding with each other.
In other words: the police were bribed.
14/22
After this, numerous fights broke out. Protestors were throwing stones and petrol bombs, and they built barricades throughout the city. The first activist to open fire was pro-Russian activist Vitaly Budko, who opened fire with an AK-74 automatic rifle.
15/22
Based on eyewitnesses, he was covered by the police and later, after pro-Ukrainian protestor Igor Ivanov was killed, fled the scene with police commander Dmitry Fuchedzhy.
Fuchedzhy later fled to Russia and obtained Russian citizenship.
16/22
After the murder of Ivanov, the two parties started fighting aggressively. The pro-Ukrainian protesters torched the camp on Kulykove Pole, and the pro-Russian forces fled to the Trade Union House. After the pro-Russian protestors camped inside the house, both parties...
17/22
...started throwing Molotov cocktails at each other. The building caught on fire, and a total of 42 people died from either carbon monoxide poisoning or from jumping off the building.
18/22
The Kremlin has naturally blamed the deaths on the pro-Ukrainian protestors, whereas the forensic examination of the fire by the Ukrainian Ministry concluded that four out of the five fires could've actually started only from inside the building.
19/22
Volodymyr Nemyrovsky, Governor of Odesa Oblast, later stated that the whole conflict could have been avoided had police fulfilled their duties, and accused the police of inciting the confrontation and taking bribes from the separatists' side. Several police officers...
20/22
..even wore the red armbands worn by the pro-Russian side. The high number of deaths could also be due to the delay of the emergency services - it took the first crew 40 minutes to arrive to the scene, even though the nearest fire station was less than a 5 minute drive away.21/22
To conclude: The Odessa fire was a real tragedy, but it could've been avoided if the Kremlin and Glazyev didn't fund the pro-Russian movement, and if the police and the fire department would've taken their job more seriously and not be blinded by bribes.
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.