In today's #vatniksoup, I'll continue introducing the international pro-Kremlin network called DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics). They're best-known for spreading Russian propaganda and disinformation, and for collecting money to outlets like Rybar and Killnet.
1/19
In this second part of the series, we'll introduce the original poster of the doctored Pentagon leaks, French far-right activist, and of course some genocidal Russian fifth columnists who criticize the West while living and/or studying there.
2/19
As of today, DDG has almost 125 000 followers on X/Twitter, and even with artificial inflation it's one of the largest English-speaking, pro-Kremlin social media networks online.
In case you missed the first part of this series, you can find it here:
3/19
DDG is part of the larger "vatniksphere" who often collaborate on various projects, and they've been connected to other prominent pro-Kremlin propagandists like @jacksonhinklle and @geromanAT.
This investigation was done by The Unintelligence Agency.
4/19
DDG's chat is highly anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western, and most (if not all) of the admins have been actively participating in these conversations, probably from the comfort of their homes in the West, yet they fail to see the irony of that.
5/19
All people introduced here have/had administrator privileges on the DDG Telegram channel. Many of them are originally from Russia, others hail from the UK, France and Slovenia.
Without further ado, let's see who they are!
6/19
Luke H AKA Lucas Tiger/No U - Luke is a UK citizen who first shared the doctored Pentagon leaks to DDG's Telegram. Few months after the WSJ story, Luke was caught speeding without a license, after which he claimed that "Jesus was behind the wheel" and that...
7/19
..."Jeremy Clarkson would be proud" of his driving.
Regarding the photoshopped leaks, many key statistics of the conflict were modified in them, making it seem that Ukraine had lost much more troops and vehicles than Russia.
8/19
These fake leaks were spread and promoted extensively throughout the vatniksphere (for example by Douglas Macgregor) and were used a "proof" that Russia is winning the war in Ukraine.
As of today, the leaks are still available in the DDG chat.
9/19
Maria K AKA Masyanya (@venividivici_80) - Born to Russian parents in Latvia, Maria currently lives in the US. Even by DDG's standards, Maria is a real nasty piece of work. She's called for the destruction of Ukraine and killing of Ukrainians on many occasions, and even...
10/19
...cheered on deaths of Ukrainian children. Incidentally, she reports the accounts that disagree with her genocidal views for "hateful conduct". And all this from the safety and comfort of her home in Nevada, US.
11/19
Katarina A AKA Kata - A Russian import manager living in Chile. According to @squatsons, Kata may be flexing some US sanction laws through a PO box in the US. Even though she has permanent residency in Chile, she hasn't forgotten her Russian roots.
12/19
She has no trouble demeaning Ukrainians, calling for Ukraine to be "burned to the ground" and wearing a Wagner shirt. As of Aug 2023, Kata's also an admin on @squatson's TG.
13/19
Alex O AKA Alex - Alex is one of the many Russian students enjoying the hospitability of Europe while blaming these countries for absolutely everything. He's studied to become a surgeon in the UK, a NATO country.
What stopped you from studying in Russia, Alex?
14/19
Lydia O AKA Lydia - Lydia is a makeup and clothes saleswoman from Novosibirsk by day, and Kremlin propagandist by night. She's denied Russia's children abductions in Ukraine and the massacre in Bucha. She featured on DDG's 1st podcast, right after Bils was ousted as a fake.
15/19
Paul Le Meur (@plm203) - Le Meur is another administrator who goes by his real name and doesn't hide his face. He's in direct contact with a french propagandist Christelle Néant who has lived in Donbas since 2016.
16/19
Néant is also the founder of the French propaganda outlet called "Donbas insider". Paul claims to be a member of the extreme far-right "Reconquête" party, which is ironic since he's always complaining about the Ukrainian "neo-Nazis" - maybe they're the wrong kind of Nazis?
17/19
Kirill A AKA Fabushka (@fabushka_) - Mysterious Russian businessman who gave (sold?) Bils the @DD_Geopolitics account. Also, Kirill very much cheered over the doxxing of the wrong Pekka Kallioniemi and other NAFO figures.
18/19
Borut M AKA Area 52 (@Area5Z) - Slovenian (failed?) artist who accepted Hargreaves' classified documents, while the provider clearly labels them as "LEAKED".
Mr. Borat was also involved in the original Donbass Devushka group's merch sales and design.
In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a Canadian social media personality and QA tester, Patrick JM (@vonClownsewitz). He's best-known for spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda & for creating a fake persona as an academic expert on international relations and strategic studies.
1/19
This investigation was put together by The Unintelligence Agency.
Patrick is a self-proclaimed expert on international relations, regularly pissing on people who comment on geopolitical issues but who have no background on the topic.
2/19
According to the man himself, he's a "published strategic analyst" who does "defense research" and who is also "speaking at panels." He also claims to be one of his institutions Russia experts, which is of course yet another lie.
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.
In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce an American far-right social media personality, Stewart Peters (@realstewpeters). He's best-known for his (short) rap career, and for promoting conspiracy theories related to COVID-19, "global elites" and the Russo-Ukrainian War.
1/21
Peters falls in the category of "far-right conspiracy theorists monetizing outrage & lies" with a white trash twist. As is the case with all of this type of accounts (for example @mattwallace888 & @bennyjohnson), Stewie has no interest in correcting any fake info he shares.
2/21
It is important to note, that this type of people have no interest in the truth. These people also almost always lack any set of moral values, and are willing to share any trendy topic to get engagement for their content and buyers for their snake oil products.
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).
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.
1/ 21
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.
2/21
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.
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.