In today's #vatniksoup, I'll talk about @DD_Geopolitics, so-called useful idiots, and theorize on how DDG's founder Sarah Bils become one. Bils is best-known for setting up the pro-Kremlin Donbass Devushka network and later rebranding it as DD Geopolitics.
1/16
This investigation was conducted by The Unintelligence Agency (TUA).
If you missed the first soup on Donbass Devushka, I suggest reading it now to understand what's going on in this one:
As we've established before, Russian active measures often look for "useful idiots", or people who are willing to spread the Kremlin propaganda without them fully comprehending their goals:
These people are often motivated by money, ideology, compromising material or their ego; I'm not a psychologist, but in Bils' case I'd bet on both money and ego. Almost immediately after she started the Donbass Devushka network, she started grifting for money by selling...
4/16
...Z-merchandise and collecting donations for made-up causes and charities. Even her former colleague, @squatsons, seemed confused about the whole charity situation, and eventually admitted that he didn't know where the money went - probably to Bils' own pockets.
5/16
After the WSJ published their story on Bils, she claimed that TUA ruined her life. According to her, she had lost two jobs, two businesses & time with her child. She declared that this was due to people "doxxing" her. But Sarah ruined her life long before NAFO even existed.
6/16
According to court documents, she has a "long-term problem with drugs, alcohol or other substances". She sold her child's toys and was so addicted to being on her phone, that she neglected her child. The house was a mess and there were times she didn’t feed them.
7/16
She has a massive drinking problem, and she skipped deployments due to this. Once her ex-husband found her passed out on the floor while she was supposed to watch over their kid. She was sent home from deployment for being drunk. She often drank in the presence of her child.
8/16
According to her ex, she wanted to waive her rights as a parent since she can't afford child support. She was also constantly cheating on him, as testified by her kid. After he filed for divorce, she invited her brother and her mom to live with them.
9/16
And about that doxxing: Bils has no trouble spreading other people's personal information and calling for her fans to brigade against them.
She considers TUA and WSJ exposing her lies a "doxx" and constantly lies about the extent of these revelations.
10/16
You absolutely can't trust anything Bils says, and she's claimed to be Jewish, Russian, Ukrainian, Italian, Slovenian and Latvian. She's also lied about her education, academic background (there isn't any), and about... well, everything.
She's from New Jersey.
11/16
You may ask, "why all these gossip-y details? Why do they even matter?" Well, these are the type of people Russian intelligence targets. Problematic figures who are looking for a some kind of external factor to solve all of their problems, usually related to money.
12/16
Now, we know that Bils has around 63 000 USD in loans and she's willing to do anything to keep up with her lifestyle - even sell her child's toys and try to steal Vicodin. I'm sure even Dmitry Polyanskiy (@Dpol_un) agrees that Bils would be a perfect asset for the Kremlin.
13/16
DDG is still actively collecting "donations", and all money goes to Sarah's private account. The network was started in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but has since switched their focus to the next trendy thing, the Israel-Palestine conflict.
14/16
Bils/DDG have been accepted to Russia's "inner circles", and they are now invited to participate in silly events like the "Crisis of Freedom of Speech". They've also tweeted statements from Hezbollah and invited guests from Iranian state-controlled propaganda channels.
15/16
This will conclude our long series on Donbass Devushka/DD Geopolitics/Sarah Bils. By now, DDG has become a rather minor actor when it comes pro-Kremlin fake news & propaganda, and it's time to focus on actors and organizations that have actual impact on the information war.
16/16
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.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the autocratic concept of “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars”: the idea that the leader is wise and just, but constantly sabotaged by corrupt advisors. This narrative shields the ruler from blame, and it’s used by both Putin and Trump today.
1/20
The phrase “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars” (Царь хороший, бояре плохие), also known as Naïve Monarchism, refers to a long-standing idea in Russian political culture: the ruler is good and benevolent, but his advisors are corrupt, incompetent and responsible for all failures.
2/20
From this perception, any positive action taken by the government is viewed as being an accomplishment of the benevolent leader, whereas any negative one is viewed as being caused by lower-level bureaucrats or “boyars”, without the approval of the leader.
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.