Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Mar 6, 2024 21 tweets 11 min read Read on X
In today's #vatniksoup, I'll talk about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) and how pro-Kremlin propagandists, oligarchs and lawyers are using its "persecution" as a tool to reduce support for Ukraine and its government.

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In Oct 2023, @tuckercarlson published an episode on Joe Biden "backing the Ukrainian government as it throws priests in jail," in which he interviewed Bob Amsterdam, a lawyer representing the UOC-MP. He was hired by a Russian oligarch, Vadym Novynskyi, for the job.

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The case is related to so called Draft Law 8371, a bill that would give Ukrainian authorities power to investigate the connection of religious groups in Ukraine to the Russian Federation and to ban those that have leadership under the control of the Kremlin.

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Amsterdam's client, Novynskyi is one of the Russian businessmen who got rich during the early 90s in Russia. He later obtained a Ukrainian citizenship from Viktor Yanukovych & was involved in politics in Yanukovych's Party of Regions & later in anti-Maidan Opposition Bloc.

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Novynskyi has been sanctioned by Ukraine (thus, it violates Ukrainian law to be paid by him) and his assets were seized by the Ukrainian authorities for "aiding the aggressor country [Russia]". He is said to be seeking to avoid the sanctions by transferring his assets.

5/20
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Novynskyi is also a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) of the Holy Resurrection in Zürich, Switzerland (Incidentally, Kirill also worked for the KGB in Switzerland). According to official records, he also still holds a Russian passport.

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As this rather thick soup has quite a lot of names and abbreviations, here's a handy cheat sheet that you can check whenever you have trouble remember them all:

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Amsterdam has falsely claimed that UOC-MP has been "completely separated from Moscow in May of last year [2022]". Canonical unity, even subordination of the UOC-MP to the ROC is actually hidden in the UOC-MP's statute and UOC-MP never declared full independence from ROC.

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Actually, there are some priests within the UOC-MP who have been persecuted: a number of UOC-MP priests were banned from liturgies because of their criticism of the church's pro-Kremlin leadership, so they started their own NGO called St. Sophia Brotherhood.

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As many of you know, Soviet and Russian intelligence agencies have used the Orthodox Church extensively for intel operations and propaganda, as the West fears harassing churches as it looks like an attack on freedom/democracy. This allows these spies to fly under the radar.
10/20


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While invading Ukraine, Russia has also actively and forcibly closed, seized and investigated most (but not the UOC-MP) Ukrainian religious organizations in the captured regions. Religious leaders are then tortured, killed and/or deported by Russia's intelligence services.

11/20
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Also, the idea about "persecuted Christians" probably originated from pro-Kremlin Telegram sources like "Pravblog" and Alex Voznesensky (who's collaborating with Russian intel), who theorized about using religion to attack the Ukrainian government already back in Apr 2023.

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This "persecution" is being pushed not due to religious freedom, but because Russia hopes it will split the Western and US support for Ukraine. The reason the Draft Law 8371 is being considered is that the Russian Orthodox Church is a key tool of influence of the Kremlin.

13/20
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Amsterdam has been positioned as a "human rights activist", but he's a hired and paid lawyer who basically acts as a lobbyist for the Kremlin's causes. He spoke to Strana, media site under Ukrainian sanctions and gave an interview to pro-Kremlin blogger Alexandr Shelest.

14/20
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Now, some (including Bob himself) will claim that Amsterdam can't be pro-Kremlin because in 2003 he defended Russian oligarch and dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky. So, instead of calling him pro-Kremlin, I'll just call Mr. Amsterdam pro-money. Naturally, he's claimed...

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...that neither him nor his firm has any contacts or relationships with the Russian Orthodox Church or Patriarch Kirill, but forgets to mention that his client does: Novynskyi met with KGB priest Kirill in 2019, after which he was excluded from the Russian sanction list.

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Now Bob, if you were genuinely interested in defending priests against persecution, why haven't you commented on the atrocities the Russian troops have conducted in the temporarily occupied territories since 2014? You know, torture, murder, exile & other inhuman activities.
17/20
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Is it because your client is actually a Russian citizen who is working as an active priest in the Russian Orthodox Church? Or because you try to stir things politically in the US by promoting a pro-Kremlin narrative of "religious persecution" in Ukraine? Maybe both?

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To conclude: pro-Kremlin actors, together with Mr. Amsterdam, are trying to create an illusion of persecution of religious groups in Ukraine to reduce the Western support for Ukraine. The church that they are defending is closely related, canonically and otherwise,...

19/20

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...to Russian Orthodox church that is itself connected to Russian intelligence and the Kremlin.

At the same time, Russian invaders are actually persecuting, torturing and murdering clergymen of Ukrainian origin in the temporarily occupied regions.

20/20

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More from @P_Kallioniemi

Jul 1
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.

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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.

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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:

3/20

Read 21 tweets
Jun 26
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.

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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.

2/24

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:

3/24

Read 26 tweets
Jun 24
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.

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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.

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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.

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Read 22 tweets
Jun 20
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.

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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,…

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…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.

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Read 23 tweets
Jun 16
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.

3/10
Read 11 tweets
Jun 8
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.

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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.

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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.

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Read 17 tweets

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