In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce an American-born Russian mixed martial artist turned politician and propagandist, Jeff Monson (@JeffMonson). He's best-known for his career as a MMA fighter, and for his propaganda work for the Russian Federation.
1/15
Monson calls himself an anarcho-communist, and he's described himself as "someone who would like to do away with all class hierarchy in society and the institutions that promote this inequality". His worldview leans strongly towards radical left.
2/15
Monson's career in mixed martial arts was relatively successful - he's considered to be one of the world's top submission grapplers, and he has even fought in UFC and PRIDE. He also worked as a mental health professional as well as a child and family counselor.
3/15
In 2011, Jeff got to fight the Russian MMA legend, Fedor Emilianenko in Moscow, Russia. Jeff lost the match, after which Putin surprisingly decided to come up to the stage for a speech,but got unexpectedly boo'd by the crowd. The Kremlin later claimed the crowd boo'd Monson.
4/15
After the fight, Jeff met Vladimir, who at this point was desperate at finding celebrities who could promote the Russian cause. Putin later called Monson and told him that he'd be "always welcome" in Russia, after calling Jeff a "real man".
5/15
This must've been a turning point in Jeff's life - in 2015, he stated that he had a "Russian soul" and that he felt solidarity with the Russian people, after which he applied for a Russian citizenship. Finally in 2018, Putin granted Monson a Russian passport.
6/15
Interestingly, the made-up republics of Abkhazia and Luhansk granted Jeff citizenships already in 2016 and in 2017, so by 2018 he had accumulated a total of four passports. In May 2023, Monson officially renounced his American citizenship.
7/15
Monson initially sided with Gennady Zyuganov's CCCP in 2016. Soon disappointment set in over the the lack of ideology "There are no communists in the communist party in Russia". He later ran as an independent representative and was elected to the city duma of Krasnogorsk.
8/15
Monson has strongly supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine since 2014, and he's made many propaganda trips to Eastern Ukraine since then. He supports the Kremlin false narrative Ukraine being run by "fascists".
9/15
The Kremlin saw a valuable asset in Monson, and he was even given his own TV show on RT. Additionally he was handed the means to make a documentary "8 years before" to spread the false narrative that Ukraine and The West were responsible for the Donbass war since 2014.
10/15
He would later become the face of several charities connected with the new regions, like opening "fighting schools" in Donbass and handing out medicines to soldiers in Luhansk. These "humanitarian missions" done by Westerners are staple of Kremlin propaganda.
11/15
Monson's reasoning for the war follows closely the one of the Kremlin's - according to him, Russian didn't want to kill their "Ukrainian brothers and sisters" and "Russia had no desire to conquer the whole of Ukraine but was fighting Ukrainian Nazis in Donbass".
12/15
In 2023, Monson made yet another political turn by joining Putin's United Russia, a party on the opposite spectrum of his communist believes. He solidified his support for Putin and the war by taking a big Z tattoo and stating Russia has more democracy than the US.
13/15
While being a clear advocate of the war in Ukraine, the idea of being sent to the front scares Jeff: "I hope I don't get drafted." He probably knows how well the Russian soldiers are treated and would rather stay in Russia as a propagandist.
14/15
To conclude, Jeff Monson represents the far-left "tankie" group of Kremlin apologists whose view on Russia is not based on any reality. His "strongman" ego helped him gain attention of Putin's, and he's been heavily utilized as an anti-Western propagandist in Russia.
15/15
This soup was done in collaboration with NAFO activist SLAVAUA2022.
I have paused personal donations for now, please support @U24_gov_ua by donating to the #HopakChallenge and sending me the receipt:
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.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American national security policy professional and the current under secretary of defense for policy, Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby). He’s best-known for fighting with cartoon dogs online and for halting military aid to Ukraine.
1/21
Elbridge "Cheese" Colby earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Before entering government, he worked at top think tanks and in the intelligence community, focusing on nuclear policy and strategic planning.
2/21
Cheese quickly became a key voice for a “China First” strategy, arguing the US must prioritize military buildup in Asia over commitments in Europe or the Middle East. He sees (or saw, rather) Taiwan as the core test of US credibility.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’m going to talk about… Vatnik Soup! As some of you know, we also have a website where you can find every soup ever published. The site also has other useful resources, making it the most comprehensive resource on Russian disinformation & vatniks.
1/15
Unfortunately, Elon has flagged the website as malware, as he might not be very happy about the soups I wrote about him - so far, they have garnered over 60 million views on X/Twitter.
The “freedom of speech” spokesperson doesn’t seem too keen on free speech, after all.
2/15
The heart & soul of the website is of course the soups page. There you can find all 360+ soups, which can be sorted chronologically, by popularity, etc. You can also search for soups by title or even in the soup text: