In today's #vatniksoup, I'll dissect Russian propaganda, go through its main characteristics and also discuss how it differs from Ukrainian propaganda. This soup will mostly focus on the Kremlin's more "sophisticated" forms of media, like mobilization ads and advertisements.
1/18
From the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb 2022, Russia's propaganda machinery has been going on full steam.
In addition to using social media, botnets and troll farms to spread their narratives, they've also produced various ads and videos.
2/18
Russian propaganda can be targeted at domestic population or to foreign audiences. Let's first look at how Russia promotes the war to its domestic audience. These ads generally focus on MASCULINITY, POWER and/or MATERIALISM.
3/18
In Apr 2023, Russian Defense Ministry published a recruitment video in which anyone who is still doing a regular job instead of getting killed in Ukraine is not a "real man". In addition, young men are attracted with a hefty salary (by Russian standards).
4/18
This appeal to one's masculinity is a common theme in Russian propaganda, but it is then complemented with the idea of wealth. But as we know, Russia's casualties in this war are incredibly high, and often the families of the fallen are not even compensated.
5/18
In another ad published in Sep 2023, two Russians discuss how they're going to buy real estate and move to Kyiv and Odesa after they've been captured. This ad is all about Russian imperialism and power, and it is in...
6/18
...contradiction to the Kremlin's official statements of the war being about "denazification" and "saving the Russian-speaking population" in Ukraine.
In reality, the war is about conquest and genocide, as most of you already know.
7/18
One recruitment ad focusing on materialism shows a grandpa who has to sell his shiny Lada in order to survive, but eventually his his grandson signs a contract to join the war.
This absurd ad simply shows how Russian propaganda values material possession over human lives.
8/18
Now, these ads may be the only connection to the war in poor areas, in which most of the information flows through TV channels. Russia's censorship organization, Roskomnadzor, makes sure that no information about Russia's losses and genocidal acts finds these people,...
9/18
...and that these people living in poverty fully rely on the heavily filtered information they get from their televisions.
As the late Russian General Alexander Lebed said: "Let me recruit a platoon of the children of the elite, and the war will be over in a day."
10/18
The propaganda that Kremlin produces for the foreign audiences differs from all this, and it often attempts to promote the INCONVENIENCE that the war brings. This type of campaigning peaked just before the winter of 2022, when the West was preparing for a "harsh winter"...
11/18
...due to the lack of Russian gas and oil. One of the more "popular" videos was the one depicting Christmas in Europe without Russian gas. In it, a Western family eventually becomes so poor, that they have to eat the family hamster.
12/18
In another ad, a woman is looking for love online in a cold and dark apartment. Eventually, he finds a Russian man who boasts with electricity, light and heat. After she decides to move to his place, there's already a bunch of "Western" women living with him.
13/18
Many of these ads were published with German audiences in mind, probably because of their strong military support of Ukraine, but also to support the rise of far-right, pro-Kremlin parties like AfD:
One example of this type of advertising is a video where German army authorities storm into a family's home and takes all of their money. The ad then claims that the German ad is taken directly from the German taxpayers.
15/18
They've also published a bunch of ads which encourage the people from the West to move to Russia. All these ads also appeals to the Russian audiences, basically saying that "we have it so much better than the people in the West."
This ad even features a Ukrainian model.
16/18
In other ads, they've called for the end of "Russophobia", even trying to adopt a hashtag #StopHatingRussians.
This ad was published just a month after Russia started their genocidal attack on Ukraine, showing how tone-deaf these propagandists actually are.
17/18
To summarize the propaganda targeted at the West: it focuses on costs of the war and the inflation and price hikes it brings, naturally blaming it all on Ukraine rather than themselves. It also appeals to the regular voters to stop any kind of aid to Ukraine.
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.