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 Wumao Soup, I’ll introduce how and where the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) online propaganda and influence operations work. Due to China’s massive population and advances in AI, CCP-aligned online content has become increasingly visible.
1/20
Like Russia’s troll farms, China has its own troll army: the “50 Cent Party” or “Wumao” refers to state-linked online commentators who are reportedly paid ¥0.50 per post to steer discussions away from criticism and amplify CCP narratives on social media.
2/20
Back in 2017, a research paper estimated that the Wumao produced almost 500 million fabricated comments annually to distract readers and shift topics. In that sense, Wumao operates very similarly to the Russian “Firehose of Falsehood” model:
In today’s Vatnik Soup and the “Degenerate Russia” series, I’ll show you the brutal reality of Russian war crimes, in particular the horrific tortures and sexual abuses of children, women and men.
Buckle up, this one is not for the faint-hearted.
1/24
For over a decade now and as part of their “firehose of falsehood” propaganda strategy, Russia has been spreading false narratives targeted at right-wing/conservative audiences, portraying russia as a bastion of Christian, traditional,family values.
In the previous “degenerate Russia” series we discussed Russia’s insanely high divorce rates, rampant domestic violence, high murder rates, thriving neo-Nazi culture, corruption of the Orthodox Church, and their massive demographic problem:
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explore how Russia is working with Iran, and how the recent Israel–US strikes on Iran could affect the war in Ukraine. Iran has been one of Russia’s key allies in their genocidal war, but in reality the partnership is deeply one-sided.
1/21
Historically, Russia/USSR has been involved in numerous wars in the Middle East, invading Afghanistan for nearly a decade and desperately trying to keep Syria’s authoritarian leader, al-Assad, in power before his eventual downfall.
2/21
While initially supportive of Israel, the Soviet Union quickly pivoted to backing its enemies, fueling antisemitism, terrorism, and chaos in an already tense region. At times, this meant near-open war, like when Soviet Air Force MiG-21s were shot down by Israel over Egypt.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce a Latvian politician and former MEP, Tatjana Ždanoka. She’s best-known for her history in the Communist Party of Latvia, for her pro-Russian politics in the country, and her connections to Russian intelligence.
1/22
Based on Ždanoka’s speeches and social media posts, she has a deep hatred towards the people of Latvia. The reason for this can only be speculated, but part of it could be due to her paternal family being killed by the Latvian Auxiliary Police,…
2/22
…a paramilitary force supported by the Nazis, during the early 1940s. Ždanoka became politically active in the late 80s. She was one of the leaders of Interfront, a political party that supported Latvia remaining part of the USSR.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce the main themes of Russian disinformation on TikTok. Each day, there are thousands of new videos promoting pro-Kremlin narratives and propaganda.
It’s worth noting that Russians can only access European TikTok via VPN.
1/10
There is currently a massive TikTok campaign aimed at promoting a positive image of Russia. The videos typically feature relatively attractive young women and focus on themes of nationalism and cultural heritage.
2/10
Ironically, many of these videos from Moscow or St. Petersburg are deceptively edited to portray Ukraine in a false light — claiming there is no war and that international aid is being funneled to corrupt elites.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about Finland and how pro-Kremlin propagandists have become more active in the Finnish political space since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For the first time since 2022, they’ve gained some political power in Finland.
1/16
Russia’s political strategy in countries with Russian-speaking minorities (such as Finland and the Baltics) is typically quite similar: it seeks to rally these minorities around issues like language and minority rights, and then frames the situation as oppression.
2/16
At the same time, Russian speakers are extremely wary and skeptical of local media, and instead tend to follow Russian domestic outlets like Russia-1 and NTV, thereby reinforcing an almost impenetrable information bubble.