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, 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.
1/5
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!").
2/5
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.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American national security policy professional and the current under secretary of defense for policy, Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby). He’s best-known for fighting with cartoon dogs online and for halting military aid to Ukraine.
1/21
Elbridge "Cheese" Colby earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Before entering government, he worked at top think tanks and in the intelligence community, focusing on nuclear policy and strategic planning.
2/21
Cheese quickly became a key voice for a “China First” strategy, arguing the US must prioritize military buildup in Asia over commitments in Europe or the Middle East. He sees (or saw, rather) Taiwan as the core test of US credibility.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’m going to talk about… Vatnik Soup! As some of you know, we also have a website where you can find every soup ever published. The site also has other useful resources, making it the most comprehensive resource on Russian disinformation & vatniks.
1/15
Unfortunately, Elon has flagged the website as malware, as he might not be very happy about the soups I wrote about him - so far, they have garnered over 60 million views on X/Twitter.
The “freedom of speech” spokesperson doesn’t seem too keen on free speech, after all.
2/15
The heart & soul of the website is of course the soups page. There you can find all 360+ soups, which can be sorted chronologically, by popularity, etc. You can also search for soups by title or even in the soup text: