In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a Swiss social media personality, investment banker and journalist, Vadim Loskutov (@runews). He's best-known for praising Russia and its politics, and criticizing the West while living comfortably in Switzerland.
1/16
This research was conducted in collaboration with the Swiss NAFO fellas and The Unintelligence Agency.
Loskutov allegedly originally hails from the Republic of Kalmykia, located in the North Caucasus region of Southern Russia.
2/16
According to some Wikibin entries, Vadim was allegedly building a career as a media personality in Russia. Based on the text, he worked as a presenter and video jockey on various Russian music shows during the 90s, and he allegedly also voiced radio advertisements.
3/16
The whole biography seems extremely sketchy, as he would've been just 13-years old when he was working as a music presenter on Russian national TV, and 18-years old when was a video jockey, producer and a host on Russian MTV.
4/16
There is hardly any proof of this, and the whole career history could be completely made up to hide his intelligence background or to help him getting employed in Switzerland. Whatever the truth is, we couldn't locate any evidence that a man named Vadim Loskutov ever...
5/16
...worked in the Russian music business. But we do know that Vadim had a show called RussenRadio! in Swiss alternative radio channel called LoRa. The show featured Russian music, news and comedy sketches for German and English speaking audiences.
6/16
According to Loskutov, he is a "seasoned journalist" with over 20 years of experience on "reporting on Investments, Cryptos, and Geopolitics". He also allegedly worked as a senior trader at Glencore, one of worlds biggest commodity trading and mining companies.
7/16
His public commercial records reveal that between 2012-2020 he was approved to make signatures (and from 2015 acted as the VC of their Zürich branch) for CBH, a Swiss private bank. The company has been involved in many alleged controversies, including money laundering.
8/16
Loskutov is also a big fanboy of Elon, and he's also a strong proponent of his "free speech absolutism" on X. It would be interesting to hear what Vadim has to say about specific search terms in relation to the conflict in Middle East that are now censored on this platform.
9/16
When it comes to Ukraine, Vadim's propaganda focuses on the Kremlin's main narratives: money laundering in Ukraine, Ukraine must negotiate truce, the US is falling apart whereas Russia is thriving.. & all this from the comfort of his allegedly nice apartment in Switzerland.
10/16
He seems to be a strong opponent of the "woke culture", often using the common phrase "go woke, go broke" whenever any big brand tries a marketing strategy involving "woke" elements like trans people or men wearing pink clothes. He also seems to hate the "woke" Swiss media.
11/16
Once the story about Donbass Devuska came out, he created a theory that WSJ was taking revenge on Russia after one of WSJ's journalists, Evan Gershkovich was arrested. He's also called WaPo a "NATO propaganda machine".
Vadim's favorite Swiss media seems to be Weltwoche.
12/16
In Apr 2023, the @runews account informed that he starts writing for pro-Kremlin outlet called Die Weltwöche. This connects the @runews account to Vadim Loskutov.
Weltwoche is a media project launched by the Swiss grand-vatnik Roger Köppel:
Ironically,he's complained about the lack of press freedom in Europe,while in his home country anyone who criticizes the Kremlin gets either murdered or imprisoned.He also supports German politician Sahra Wagenknecht's populist, pro-Kremlin policies:
14/16
Vadim also seems to be a raging antisemite. He called the 30 Oct 2023 pogrom of mob storming the Makhachkala airport in search of Jewish passengers from Israel a "protest". The term 'pogrom' refers to violent attacks by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in Russia.
15/16
In Feb 2023, Vadim tweeted that he was allegedly "charged" by the Swiss police & he called for @RusEmbSwiss to help him. It's a perfect example of how the 5th column lives in the West: they enjoy its luxuries, but whenever they run into trouble,they call for Russia to help.
16/16
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.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Russian propagandist Sergei Tsaulin. He’s best-known for spreading pro-Kremlin narratives in Estonia, fleeing to Russia after breaking several laws in Estonia, and almost getting blown up by a bomb in St. Petersburg.
1/17
For years, Tsaulin was known for organizing marches and events glorifying the Soviet Union. Under the excuse of “remembering history,” these events were nothing more than Kremlin propaganda, wrapped in a red flag with a hammer and sickle.
2/17
One of his most infamous events was the “Immortal Regiment” march, held every 9th of May, where people carried portraits of Soviet soldiers. These marches are used by Russia to push the idea that the Baltics owe their existence to the Soviets.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a podcaster and conspiracy theorist, Joe Rogan (@joerogan). He’s best-known for launching the biggest podcast in the world, promoting various conspiracy theories, his support for Donald Trump and his anti-Ukraine rhetoric.
1/22
Joe Rogan started as a stand-up comedian in the 1980s, found fame on NewsRadio, and became a household name with Fear Factor. But his biggest impact came in 2009 when he launched The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), one of the first major podcasts.
2/22
JRE started as casual but deep conversations, often covering countercultural topics like psychedelics, MMA & hunting. Joe’s podcasting style is largely non-confrontational, often allowing his guests to share their views without significant pushback or critical questioning.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce KOOS party leader and Estonian crypto businessman Oleg Ivanov. He’s best known for running shady businesses, spreading Russian false narratives in Estonia, and participating in the pro-Kremlin political party KOOS.
1/18
As a talented youngster, Oleg learned Estonian almost flawlessly, was a promising karate athlete, and landed a job at a law firm at just 20. He caught the eye of Estonian fuel entrepreneur Endel Siff, who quickly took him under his wing.
2/18
Oleg’s father, Vladimir Ivanov, was a longtime politician from the Russian-funded United People’s Party of Estonia. His career at the town hall ended abruptly when he was caught drunk at work. After that, he went into business with his son, Oleg.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about the takeover of social media by illiberal, populist influencers. For the last ten years, social media has been dominated by these voices and it is one of the main reasons for the political rise of people like Trump and Orban.
1/25
“Illiberal populists” like Trump reject democratic norms while claiming to speak for “the people.” They centralize power, attack institutions, and push nationalism over rights. Elections exist, but checks & balances erode. This is democracy in name, autocracy in action.
2/25
The media landscape has changed drastically over the past two decades. The Internet and social media have changed how we interact online & how we consume media,but it has also become our main source of news. In many ways,social media companies have control over information.