In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a Belgian political activist, Luc Michel (@LucMichelPCN). He's best-known for his extreme far-right views, supporting and promoting Russia-orchestrated fake elections, and organizing a vast African fake news network, Russosphère.
1/18
In his early years, Michel became part of Front de la Jeunesse, a far-right militia. In 1980, members of the organization killed a French-Algerian man in Brussels. In 1981, they burned down a publishing house for a magazine who exposed the organization's internal structures.
2/18
During the 80s Michel become an assistant of Jean Thiriart, a Belgian far-right political theorist and former Waffen SS member. Thiriart and Michel moved later towards National Bolshevism, and they also collaborated with Russian fascist Alexander Dugin.
3/18
In 1984 Luc founded The Parti Communautaire National-Européen (PCN), a National Bolshevik political organization with strong anti-US and "anti-Zionist" sentiments. It became the home of Maoists and neo-fascists, and admired the likes of Saddam Hussein & Slobodan Milosevic.
4/18
The goal of PCN was to unite the European far-left and far-right against Europe's "Yankee and Zionist enemies" and establish one big European nation stretching from Lisbon to Vladivostok. Dugin liked the idea so much, he made it the frontispiece of one of his books.
5/18
At the same time, Luc started making new connections in Africa. He was a close admirer of Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, but he was also making connections to the president of the Central African Republic. He even became the advisor to president of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza.
6/18
While Michel's party was fringe at best in Belgium, he managed to open a lot of doors in Russia. He headed the Eurasian Observatory for Democracy & Election, an organization with the sole purpose of whitewashing Russian-controlled elections in regions like Transnistria.
7/18
As the leader of the organization, Michel popped up in Transnistria (2006), Abkhazia (2007), Crimea (2014), Donetsk (2014) and Luhansk (2014) to observe the "elections". Russia even outsourced the hiring of observers to Michel and his henchmen for their sham referendums.
8/18
While the OSCE wanted nothing to do with Russia's fake elections, Russia cunningly went for deception. During the Crimea referendum, TV channel Russia24 claimed Michel represented the OSCE, while in Donetsk foreign observers came up with a similar acronym, ASCE.
9/18
Russia loves these similar naming conventions, which is why Michel also founded NAPO (North Atlantic Peace Organisation), a counter organization for NATO. While in theory it proposed peace, in reality it served as a propaganda vehicle for Russia to promote its narratives.
10/18
In a bizarre turn of events, Luc announced his involvement as an observer for The Detroit Republic Referendum. It turned out to be a project of Ramzu Yunus, a "NAPO activist" and a grifter who traveled to Russia in Sep 2023 where he allegedly met Wagner's youth members.
11/18
After Feb 2022, Russia's state media was restricted or banned from most social media platforms. Michel quickly filled the gap with Russosphère, a fake news network spanning most sites and that, according to Luc, is funded by "private money" and not financed by Russia.
12/18
Russosphère is targeted at the French-speaking population in Africa. At the beginning, the network was heavily promoted by paid trolls and bots, but later became an authentic organic influence operation with real followers around Africa.
13/18
The influence of Russosphère shouldn't be underestimated - it has clearly helped Russia in gaining more influence in the region, where it mostly operates via Wagner. Russia has also provenly orchestrated many "anticolonial" demonstrations in Africa:
Michel's success in Africa can be attributed to his ability to use the local's real grievances towards their former colonizers,namely France,to grow support for Russia. Russian disinformation was also a factor in driving out the French forces in countries like Burkina Faso.
15/18
In Sep 2023, WSJ reported that Wagner had vandalized a French brewery, destroying most of their stock. Wagner then started their own brewery that made "Russian beer" Ti L'or, and at the same time started a hate campaign towards the French brewery:
16/18
Back in Belgium,Luc shared a photo of a Lidl supermarket with empty shelves,claiming it was the result of the sanctions backfiring. Confronted with the facts (it had been a result of logistical problems not sanctions),Michel doubled down claiming it was a "NATO conspiracy".
17/18
Luc Michel is a laughing stock in Europe, but his influence operations and organizations have legitimized Russia's sham referendums and activities to African and fringe Western audiences.
His Russosphère network has also become a popular fake news media outlet in Africa.
18/18
This soup was prepared in collaboration with sous-chef @SLAVAUA2022NAFO.
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.