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 #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss the Wagner Group, its founders Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, and the mutiny they started on 23 Jun 2023. The event marked the climax of the Wagner Group–Russian MoD conflict, and finally led to the deaths of Prigozhin and Utkin.
1/22
Wagner has been used in many conflicts around the world, but they came to global prominence during the war in Donbas in 2014-2015. Wagnerites helped the Donbas separatists fight against the Ukrainians during the conflict, which helped Putin to “outsource” the insurrection.
2/22
The group doesn’t have any central ideology, but many of its members and leaders have ties to various neo—Nazi movements in Russia. For example, Wagner leader Dmitry Utkin had several Nazi symbols tattooed on his body. Neo—nazi group Rusich has also fights as part of Wagner.
3/22
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an Amsterdam-based propaganda channel, Bonanza Media (@bonanzamedia2). It’s best-known for producing & spreading online pro-Kremlin propaganda videos while closely coordinating & collaborating with the Russian intelligence agency GRU.
1/19
Russian intelligence has been extremely active in the Netherlands for a long time. For example in 2018, four GRU agents were caught while trying to hack into OPCW,an organization that monitors the use of chemical weapons. In addition, the International Criminal Court (ICC)…
2/19
…and the MH17 investigation have become targets for the Russian intelligence and propaganda operations. These operations are often complemented with “investigative journalism” media outlets, that often echo the Kremlin’s propaganda and disinformation.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll talk about the recent EU elections and what are their implications for both the Kremlin and Ukraine. Right-wing political parties, some pro-Kremlin, won a lot of seats around Europe, and this result can also change the EU’s stance on Ukraine.
1/19
But before we start, I want to promote a truck fundraiser I'm doing together with the fantastic @ArturRehi and @69thSB.
Our goal is 20 000 USD, and you can contribute to this important fundraiser here:
EU’s support of Ukraine is essential for their survival against genocidal Russia. So far,this support has been delayed mostly by Orban’s Hungary (& to some degree, Fico’s Slovakia). Now, this support will probably be challenged by many new members of the European Parliament.
3/19
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss a specific propaganda/disinformation that the Kremlin likes to use – antisemitism. I also talk about how the Russian society itself has become riddled with antisemitism & how this has led to a decrease in Jewish population in the country.
1/19
Russian antisemitism works on many levels, and their narratives vary depending whether they’re targeting a local audience or people in Europe and the US. For example for the latter, Russia attempts to create a false narrative of Ukraine being an antisemitic “Nazi state”.
2/19
But before diving deeper, let’s look at a survey data of Russians in 2023: Nearly 30 million Russians harbour antisemitic attitudes, and 15% of those surveyed believed that “Jews were responsible for most of the world’s wars.” 38% think that the Jews have...
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce a Ukrainian media personality and propagandist, Diana Panchenko (@Panchenko_X). She’s best-known for betraying her own country by peddling anti-Zelenskyy and anti-Ukraine propaganda and disinformation for the Kremlin.
1/22
Panchenko was born in 1988 in the Mykolaev Oblast in Ukrainian SSR in 1988. She studied publishing and editing at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and later graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a degree in law.
2/22
After graduating, Diana worked briefly for the news site . Between 2010 and 2015, Panchenko was a presenter for KyivTV, but she found her true calling as a pro-Kremlin propagandist after she was hired by a national “news channel” called NewsOne.