In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce an international pro-Kremlin network called DD Geopolitics (DDG; @DD_Geopolitics). They're best-known for spreading Russian propaganda and disinformation, and for collecting and donating money to Russian outlets like Rybar and Killnet.
1/22
When discussing about Donbass Devushka/DD Geopolitics, the focus has been solely on its founder and owner, Sarah Bils. But as she has stated, it's actually a bigger group of people from around the world, and today's soup will introduce some of them.
2/22
In case you need to catch up on Donbass Devushka/DDG, read this article:
DDG is basically just a re-hash of the Donbass Devushka brand with some admin changes (for example, @squatsons is no longer part of the group).
This research spans over 8 months of work by The Unintelligence Agency using open data sources. All people introduced in these soups had administrator privileges on the DDG Telegram channel.
4/22
As of today, DDG has over 120 000 followers on X/Twitter, and even with artificial inflation it's one of the largest English-speaking, pro-Kremlin social media networks online. Recently, the account was shadowbanned, probably due to the inorganic growth via troll farms.
5/22
The group's Telegram chat is extremely intolerant and pro-Russian, and the discussions range from fantasizing about killing Ukrainians and criticizing the "woke culture" to calling for genocide in Ukraine.
Pretty much the only topic that's shunned is supporting Ukraine.
6/22
At least in the past, the group has strongly supported the notorious PMC Wagner. Back in Spring 2023, the channel's logo featured the Wagner logo and sledgehammer, and DDG members have often discussed about how to actually join the group.
7/22
The group has promoted donations to West-sanctioned DPR & LPR, and the Kremlin-connected neo-Nazi Rusich Group. DDG has also allegedly sent money to pro-Russian hacker group Killnet,that has conducted cyberattacks on several Western countries due to their support of Ukraine.
8/22
DDG is part of the larger "vatniksphere" who often collaborate on various projects. Recently, they've been coordinating a pitiful coup d'état attempts in Ghana together with Simeon Boikov (@aussiecossack), who's best-known for attacking pensioners and coercing his grandma.
9/22
But as was mentioned earlier, DDG is not just a one person (even though Bils sometimes claims otherwise), so let's take a look at some of the administrators of the DDG Telegram group.
10/22
David E AKA david - The son of a German Die Linke politician who has deep hatred for Ukraine and its people. He is a big Wagner fanboy, collects their patches and allegedly even helped have foreign volunteers tracked down and killed in Ukraine.
11/22
On 18 Sep 2023, Die Welt published an article on David and his activities:
His anti-Ukrainian rhetoric reminds me of the so-called "4chan lingo" with a genocidal twist. When interviewed by @KatjaBody, he claimed to be "regretting" his...
...radicalization and stated that he had left the group back in Apr 2023, but in reality he was still wishing for the death of Ukrainians and even participating on a Telegram channel that focuses on doxxing anyone who helps Ukraine and Ukrainians.
13/22
Matt M AKA akhMATT sila - US citizen LARPing as a survivalist. Constantly calls for domestic political violence while stocking up on guns, armor and ammo. Prays for the end of society so that he can "kill whoever to take what I want." At some point wanted to join Wagner.
14/22
Matt was often grooming the younger members, including David, to more radical thinking and lifestyle. He also likes to collect pro-Russia and Wagner patches and constantly calls for murder of Ukrainian civilians. He often dreams of the collapse of the US society.
15/22
Here's some additional messages from the DDG chat from Matt:
16/22
Kristopher Karl Barrett - Barrett, a Wyoming resident, participates in the chat under his real name. He describes himself as "firearms and aviation enthusiast" as well as "pro-Russian". He also dreams of a total collapse and civil war, and for being a 62-year-old...
17/22
...he writes like an edgy teenager. At one point, he tried running for public office, but failed miserably. According to the man himself, he's involved in the American Village Project in Russia,...
18/22
...which attempts to relocate American fascists, far-right extremists and white nationalists to live in a village in Russia.
I'm not an expert on The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), but this really stinks like one.
19/22
Justin F AKA Konstantin - A Canadian who actually moved to Russia a long time ago and got married there, unlike so many other Kremlin fans. He cheers for the made-up republics of DPR and LPR, often refers to Ukrainians as Nazis, and refuses to call Ukraine a real country.
20/22
Joe J AKA @rocknrollAL. He's one of the original founders of the group and is partly responsible for the group's merch designs. He's currently one of the main admins on DDG's chat. Many of the Z-merch designs you might've seen probably came from Joey.
He also loves yoga.
21/22
In the next #vatniksoup, I'll introduce more of the DDG admins from countries like Slovenia, Russia (most live outside of Russia, of course), Romania, UK, France and Mexico. I'll also talk about how the group's connected to the rest of the "vatniksphere".
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we introduce Vincent Bolloré, a French billionaire and media tycoon. He’s best known for building a powerful media empire and for reshaping editorial lines across French media and publishing, pushing them toward far-right and pro-Kremlin positions.
1/25
Born in 1952 in Boulogne-Billancourt to a family of industrialists, Vincent studied law at Paris Nanterre University. He took over the family business and turned it into a sprawling conglomerate spanning logistics, port infrastructure in Africa, advertising, and media.
2/25
Bolloré’s African logistics empire also became the subject of a long-running corruption investigation in France. Legal proceedings against Vincent Bolloré personally are still ongoing, with a trial planned in December, after a judge refused to approve a plea deal.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll introduce an American conspiracy theorist, podcaster & antisemite, Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO). She’s best known for spreading conspiracy theories, attacking Ukraine, promoting pro-Kremlin BS, and becoming a favorite of Russian state media.
1/21
Candace started her career as an intern at Vogue magazine but later moved into political commentary. Her early career focused on criticizing Republicans, calling their antics “bat-shit crazy.” In 2016, her blog even published an article about Trump’s penis size.
2/21
That same year, she launched a doxxing website called SocialAutopsy. In response, people began posting Owens’s personal information online. During the controversy, she gained support from figures such as @Nero and @Cernovich. And just like that, she became a conservative.
In today’s Wumao Soup, we’ll talk about Taiwan, the sovereign country the Chinese Communist Party insists is not a country, but constantly threatens to invade just like a country, while the “antiwar” crowd is eagerly encouraging them to start that war, endangering millions.
1/20
Taiwan is a country, a state. It has its own territory, government, army, police, courts, taxes, passports and elections, just like any other country.
The only difference? Its neighbor, imperialist China, wants to invade it, and other countries try to please the big bully.
2/20
Taiwan’s official name is the Republic of China, or ROC. The ROC was founded in 1912, after the fall of the Qing dynasty. The People’s Republic of China, or PRC, was founded by democidal dictator Mao Zedong and his communist party, in 1949, after fighting against the ROC.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll introduce Russian propaganda operations around military targets like Starobilsk. For over a decade, the Kremlin has used similar strategies, combining crisis actors, “independent journalists” and fabricated evidence.
1/13
First, let’s go back to 2014. Russia funded separatist groups and sent its mercenaries to Donbas, which led to the creation of two puppet states, Donetsk and Luhansk, governed by Russian propagandists and soldiers like Igor Girkin.
The fake genocide was touted as one of the main reasons for Russia’s war during the early stages of the full-scale invasion, and the claim was made even by Putin himself. Before his mutiny, late Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said that all this was fabricated bullshit.
In this 9th Debunk of the Day, we’ll discuss “legitimate military targets”. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine, with no declaration of war, hiding behind a “special military operation”. Yet vatniks & useful idiots pretend Russia has any legitimate or lawful targets in Ukraine.
1/8
Russia started the war in 2014 by seizing Crimea with unmarked soldiers, “little green men”. Russians have been waging an undeclared, illegal war with endless war crimes ever since, whether it’s kidnapping of Ukrainian children with genocidal intent…
… the concentration camps for Ukrainians under occupation, conscripting Ukrainians from occupied territories, or the terrorist, deliberate bombing of civilians, including their infamous “double tap” strikes.
So no, Russia does not have any “legitimate targets” in Ukraine.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we introduce Hasan Piker, a Turkish-American streamer and millionaire. He’s best known for his champagne socialism, rabid criticism of the US and Israel, support for the Soviet Union and for Chinese and Russian invasions, and for mistreating his dog.
1/20
Born in 1991, Piker grew up in a privileged and well-connected environment. His father held senior roles at big corporations and his uncle, Cenk Uygur, is the founder of The Young Turks media network. He graduated cum laude from Rutgers, a top-tier university in New Jersey.
2/20
His main activity and primary source of income consists of hours-long livestreams on Twitch where he comments on news and yells at videos. He also keeps his dog in place the whole time with a shock collar.