In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a Danish medical doctor and conspiracy theorist, Anastasia Maria Loupis (@DrLoupis). She's best-known for spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories regarding COVID-19, Russo-Ukrainian War, or basically any other trending topic.
1/19
Let's start with what is probably the wildest thing about this whole soup - Nastya is an actual trained medical doctor & she works at a emergency response in Denmark.
Allegedly her views and comments have been challenged in two...
2/19
...Medical Boards - The Medical Board for Patient Safety and the Medical Board for Medical Ethics. In Apr 2022, Danish tabloid newspaper called BT published an article discussing her social media presence. Many of her colleagues had complained about her conspiratorial...
3/19
..hot takes, but the clickbait-y article mostly focused on Nastya's Instagram "sexy" photos where she poses in skimpy underwear.
Now,take the crazies conspiracy theorist you know & then try to imagine an extra layer of craziness on top of that, and you'll have Dr. Loupis.
4/19
She is the ultimate contrarian, who thinks that everything happening is actually organized by the "deep state". All of her views are based on this premise.
The root of all this is what she calls "anti-Zionism," and its fueled by an age old trope originating from Russia.
5/19
In 1902, a fabricated text called "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" was published. The book described a "Jewish conspiracy against the world," and it's basically the basis of all "globalist Jewish elite taking over the world" tropes originate from.
6/19
In addition, Loupy now separates the Jewish people, who "don't need a state to survive" from the evil "Zionists" who are planning to take over the world with deadly vaccines, stealing all your possessions and by censoring brave people like her.
7/19
There is nothing unusual about this, as the deep state/World Economic Forum/Jewish elite ruling over the world is one of the most popular "super conspiracy theory" that is used as a basis for all other theories. For example, Nastya has grouped COVID-19, climate change,...
8/19
...the US elections, the "woke culture" and the Russo-Ukrainian War under this umbrella. To put it in simple terms: she will be a contrarian to any new trendy thing that makes the news and somehow connects it to the "deep state".
9/19
Nastya has made some peculiar statements over the war in Ukraine. According to her, Putin is a "hero" whose fight against the "The New World" is something we all should support. Since Feb 2022, she's been strongly defending Putin and his brutal and genocidal war in Ukraine.
10/19
She's also claimed that the US and Zelenskyy have "recruited ISIS terrorists to fight in Ukraine", that one of Ukraine's former Ministers bought a villa in Cannes with US & EU tax payers money, and that Ukraine is a "money laundering operation".
11/19
Incidentally, the first time Nastya tweeted about Ukraine, Putin, Russia or Zelensky was in Feb 2022. The first time she tweeted about geopolitics over Israel, Palestine or Hamas was in Oct 2023.
Before this, she simply didn't care as these topics weren't popular enough.
12/19
Many of her tweets refer to one of the most notorious fake news blogs in the world, The People's Voice. The site was formerly known as NewsPunch, and in 2017 BuzzFeed identified NewsPunch as being the second-largest source of popular fake stories spread on FB.
13/19
Nastya is also extremely transphobic, and often posts images of trans people while making fun of them. According to her, the "Trans Agenda" is again a scheme by the "deep state" to, among other things, depopulate the planet and to feed the "Big Pharma".
14/19
I usually refrain from judging people by their looks, but with Nastya I'll make an exception: if you look like you could be one of the Bogdanoff brothers, I wouldn't criticize absolutely anyone for how they look.
And Loupy: you CAN get help for Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
15/19
Now I wouldn't recommend it, but if you watch Loupy's interview with @PeterSweden7, another X/Twitter grifter, you'll see how these people believe every conspiracy theory out there, including the "Great Reset" & that labmeat is produced from "cancer cells". It's all there.
16/19
Loupis has enormous following on X/Twitter: as of today, she has almost 800 000 followers. You can even subscribe to even more crazier content through her X subscription service, that costs a measly 5,70 EUR per month. Nastya herself is of course subscribed to the...
17/19
...most rabid conspiracy theorists on X, including @ShaykhSulaiman, @dom_lucre, and @jacksonhinklle.
They might have actually organized a little club to see who can gather the most community notes, and all of these accounts are heavily monetizing disinformation on X.
18/19
To conclude: Nastya is a conspiracy theorist and disinformation superspreader who monetizes outrage.
I'll close this soup by showing you how Nastya wins an arms wrestling match in 2020, hope you enjoy!
In today’s 350th Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American comedian and podcaster, Dave Smith (@ComicDaveSmith). He’s best-known for his numerous appearances on the Joe Rogan Experience and for his unhinged takes on the Russo-Ukrainian War.
1/22
Smith has a massive megaphone - he’s a good friend of Joe Rogan, and he’s appeared on Joe’s podcast a whopping 16 times. Naturally, he’s also visited Lex Fridman’s podcast and frequently appears on Fox News’ Kennedy and The Greg Gutfeld Show.
2/22
Dave is part of the Kremlintarian section of the Libertarian Party called Mises Caucus. They took control of the party in May 2022, and with the help of their new leader, Angela McArdle, turned it into an extension of the MAGA Republicans:
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian journalist, Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin). He’s best-known for posing as a Russian dissident, while at the same time sneakily promoting the Kremlin’s narratives about the Russo-Ukrainian War.
1/20
On paper, Leonid doesn’t look like your typical Kremlin apologist - he’s written and worked for prestigious Western outlets like the BBC, the Guardian, and he’s even written some Lonely Planet guides for the Baltic countries!
2/20
But Ragozin’s public commentary often seems to walk a fine line: condemning the war while pushing narratives that shift blame, dilute responsibility, or quietly carry the same old imperial baggage Russia - or its opposition - has never truly forgotten.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll introduce a bank that is well-known in both Austria and Russia: Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and its Russian subsidiary, AO Raiffeisen. It is one of the few foreign banks that still does business in Russia.
1/21
Raiffeisen’s Russian branch was founded in 1996 and expanded dramatically after the acquisition of Russia’s Impexbank in 2006. A year later, it was the largest bank trading in foreign capital (seventh in size) in Russia.
2/21
In the early 2000s, Raiffeisen opened new branches in Russia, including in Saint Petersburg, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Krasnodar. After 2018, it focused on digital expansion and by 2021 it had a digital presence in more than 300 cities.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an Estonian lawyer, social activist, politician, and useful idiot for the Kremlin, Varro Vooglaid (@varrovooglaid). He’s best-known for promoting pro-Kremlin viewpoints under the guise of “traditional family values.”
1/20
Vooglaid has an academic background, which usually gives people plenty of credibility in the eyes of the Kremlin. Most of his academic career was spent at the University of Tartu, but he was also a researcher between 2007 and 2011 at the University of Helsinki.
2/20
Varro is likely the most influential vatnik in Estonia. His academic credentials provide him credibility, while his religious image appeals to “traditionalists” - many of whom oddly admire Russia and its imperialistic nature.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll introduce a Russian ultra-nationalist propagandist and “philosopher”, Aleksandr Dugin. He’s best-known for his blueprint on Russia’s geopolitical strategy and for his genocidal rhetoric towards Ukrainians.
1/17
In my first Dugin Soup, I covered the man’s 1997 book Foundations of Geopolitics — a manual for dismantling the West, breaking up NATO, and building a Russian-led empire. In it, he makes eerie “predictions” that seem to be playing out today.
2/17
Dugin called for destabilizing the US by exacerbating internal divisions. Fast forward to today: culture wars, conspiracy theories, far-right lunatics, and social media algorithms doing half the work for him.