In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a Russian political scientist and head of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Sergey Karaganov. He's best-known for his imperialistic policies since the early 1990's, and for calling the destruction of the West and of Ukraine.
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Karaganov created a doctrine carrying his name in the early 90's. The basic idea of the doctrine is that Russia should always protect, even by force, the ethnic Russian population in other countries. In the beginning, it was mostly targeted at the Baltic states.
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He's also a strong proponent of Eurasianism, and argues that Russia and China should cooperate economically to triumph over the Western regions. Basically, his views were the precedent of the BRICS agreement. He considers China as Russia's closest
ally.
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Sergey's policies and views are extremely hawkish. He's called Russia a "genetically authoritarian power", and claimed that Russia's main foreign policy goal is to force its dominance on the globe and break the security order put in place after the end of Cold War in 1991.
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After Russia launched its full-scale invasion in Ukraine in Feb 2022, Karaganov stated that "The process of restoring Russian statehood, Russian influence, Russian power, which had been going on for quite a long time, had simply come to the surface."
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Already in 2014, he warned that Russia may attack Ukraine, and that "hell would break out" unless Ukraine stayed out of NATO and if the Russian-speaking regions in eastern and southern Ukraine are not granted broad autonomy.
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Apparently Karaganov at some point supported the idea of Russia joining NATO, as in 2019 interview he claimed that leaving Russia out was "one of the worst mistakes in political history" and that by doing this the West would eventually "sacrifice Ukraine".
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He formulated many of the core ideas leading to Russia's invasion in Feb 2022. Right before the attack, he declared that the "situation is so dire that war is inevitable" and that Russia could only achieve its goals by military force.
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In the same article, he stated how Russia had no economic, political, cultural or ideological benefits the could offer to Ukraine, and that Russia's neighbors saw the West offering more attractive political and economic models. Finally, someone in Russia speaks the truth!
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For the Russian elites, he's called the war in Ukraine an "existential war", and declared that Ukraine's leadership should be changed to "pro-Russian government" and that there should be "real security" for the "Donbas republics".
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He's claimed that the ongoing war will be used to "restructure Russian elite and Russian society", pushing out the non-patriotic elements from the elite & making the country more militant-based and national-based.Maybe that's why that old drunk Medvedev is being so hawkish?
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He's said that Russia's "demilitarization" of Ukraine consists of complete destruction of Ukrainian military forces, and that after this Ukrainians "will become much more peaceful and friendly to us." He's compared the situation to what Russia did previously in Chechnya.
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In his fantasies, Russia would cause the complete disintegration of Ukraine. He's said that "It is possible that something may go to Russia, something to Hungary, something to Poland, and something may remain a formally independent Ukrainian state."
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In Jun 2023, Karaganov called for the use nuclear weapons against some NATO member states in Europe. He said that if Russia were to nuke, say Poznan, the US would stay away from the conflict to save their own cities, and that "the Global South would feel satisfaction from..
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...the defeat of their former oppressors." In the end of Aug 2023, Karaganov among other Russian political scientists published a report called "Problems and Lessons of the Recent History of Russian Foreign Policy (and Possibilities for Correction)". In this report,...
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...they advised Kremlin to nullify all nuclear weapon control treaties, to terminate OSCE membership and scrap the treaty on nuclear non-proliferation (NPT). It also suggests the use of nuclear weapons against NATO countries. The report encouraged Russian authorities...
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...to accelerate infrastructure projects in the eastern Russia and in Siberia. Karaganov et al. also call for exploiting Ukraine and use its resources. According to them, Ukrainian POWs should be used as forced labor to work on various infrastructure projects, and 1-2...
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million Ukrainians should be forcefully deported to the new Siberian settlements. Then comes the most absurd and barbaric part: Karaganov et al. want to turn Ukraine into barren, de-populated buffer zone against the Western states. After Ukraine has been occupied,...
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...its infrastructure should be - according to this group of maniacs - completely destroyed. This would include the destruction of its road and rail network, energy production, industry, and all large settlements.
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The goal of this would be to deprive Ukraine's possibility to exist as a state and make it an agrarian outpost.
They also claim that this would make Ukraine "uninteresting to the West," and based on the West's slow arms deliveries, this may already be the case.
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To conclude, Karaganov is the person who is voicing the Kremlin's goals and aspirations after it's stripped off its diplomatic rhetoric. The madman's genocidal lunacy includes the use of nuclear weapons against the West and complete destruction of Ukraine as a state.
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Thanks to @mfphhh, @jakluge and @usv1980 for bringing Karaganov's latest plan for genocide to the English-speaking public.
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.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the autocratic concept of “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars”: the idea that the leader is wise and just, but constantly sabotaged by corrupt advisors. This narrative shields the ruler from blame, and it’s used by both Putin and Trump today.
1/20
The phrase “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars” (Царь хороший, бояре плохие), also known as Naïve Monarchism, refers to a long-standing idea in Russian political culture: the ruler is good and benevolent, but his advisors are corrupt, incompetent and responsible for all failures.
2/20
From this perception, any positive action taken by the government is viewed as being an accomplishment of the benevolent leader, whereas any negative one is viewed as being caused by lower-level bureaucrats or “boyars”, without the approval of the leader.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian politician and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Kiriyenko. He’s best known for running both domestic and foreign disinformation and propaganda operations for the Kremlin.
1/20
On paper, and in photos, Kiriyenko is just as boring as most of the Kremlin’s “political technologists”: between 2005-2016 he headed the Rosatom nuclear energy company, but later played a leading role in the governance of Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine.
2/20
What is a political technologist? In Russia, they’re spin doctors & propaganda architects who shape opinion, control narratives, and manage elections — often by faking opposition, staging events, and spreading disinfo to maintain Putin’s power and the illusion of democracy.
Let me show you how a Pakistani (or Indian, they're usually the same) AI slop farm/scam operates. The account @designbonsay is a prime example: a relatively attractive, AI-generated profile picture and a ChatGPT-style profile description are the first red flags.
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The profile's posts are just generic engagement farming, usually using AI-generated photos of celebrities or relatively attractive women.
These posts are often emotionally loaded and ask the user to interact with them ("like and share if you agree!").
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Then there's the monetization part. This particular account sells "pencil art", which again are just AI-generated slop.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American lawyer and politician, Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee). He’s best-known for opposing the aid to Ukraine, undermining NATO by calling the US to withdraw from the alliance, and for fighting with a bunch of braindead dogs online.
1/21
Like many of the most vile vatniks out there, “Based Mike” is a lawyer by profession. He hails from the holy land of Mormons, Utah, where he faces little political competition, allowing him to make the most outrageous claims online without risking his Senate seat.
2/21
Before becoming a senator, Mike fought to let a nuclear waste company dump Italian radioactive waste in Utah, arguing it was fine if they just diluted it. The state said no, the public revolted, and the courts told poor Mikey to sit down.