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.
1/20
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.
2/20
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.
3/20
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.
4/20
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
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.
6/20
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:
7/20
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.
8/20
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.
9/20
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
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
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.
12/20
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
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
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...
15/20
...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.
16/20
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
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?
18/20
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
...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.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the agenda-setting and flood of disinformation that spread on X and other platforms right after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s far from the first or last time a tragedy has been weaponized for political purposes.
1/18
Every major political event, especially those involving violence, attracts massive attention. In the immediate aftermath, reliable information is scarce, making it highly vulnerable to both coordinated and improvised disinformation campaigns.
2/18
As I’ve mentioned in my previous soups and lectures, in disinformation campaigns, being first with a narrative is crucial, as people often remember the first version best — psychology studies show it sets the mental schema, and later updates rarely overwrite it.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American social media personality David Freeman, AKA Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman). He’s best known for spreading political disinformation on X and shamelessly sucking up to Trump, Putin, and other authoritarian leaders.
1/22
David is a textbook example of someone profiting from MAGA grievance politics. He uses extreme, provocative language to farm engagement on X and never hesitates to flatter anyone who might give him more exposure — or money.
2/22
But David wasn’t always like this. At some point, in his mid-40s, he even tried a real job: he trained to become a cop. He spent three years with the Metro Transit PD, but after that he either got fired or quit, and never looked back.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian-Estonian businessman, Oleg Ossinovski. He is best-known for his deep ties to Russian rail and energy networks, shady cross-border dealings, and for channeling his wealth into Estonian politics.
1/14
Oleg made his fortune via Spacecom Trans & Skinest Rail, both deeply tied to Russia’s rail system. Most of this is through Globaltrans Investments PLC, a Cyprus-based firm with 62% held via Spacecom and tens of millions in yearly profits.
2/14
Ossinovski’s Russian-linked ventures made him Estonia’s richest man in 2014, with an estimated fortune of ~€300M. His business empire stretched across railways, oil via Alexela shares, and Russian bitumen imports from Help-Oil, a supplier to the Defense Ministry.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Swiss/French writer, Alain Bonnet, aka Alain Soral (@officielsoral). He’s best known for his rabid antisemitism and for his pathetic support for all the worst authoritarian regimes from Russia to North Korea.
1/22
Alain’s childhood was problematic, as his father has been characterized as a “narcissistic pervert” who beat his children and did jail time for fraud. Alain himself has said he was “programmed to be a monster.” Born Alain Bonnet, he took the stage name of his sister,…
2/22
… actress Agnès Soral. She wasn’t too happy about this, commenting “How would you like to be called Agnès Hitler?”. Like many grifters, he became a pick-up/seduction artist writer, à la late Gonzalo Lira, writing books and even making a B-movie, “Confessions d’un dragueur”.
3/22
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explain the Alaska Fiasco and how it marks the peak of Trump’s two-year betrayal of Ukraine. What was sold as “peace talks” turned into a spectacle of weakness, humiliation, empty promises, and photo-ops that handed Putin exactly what he wanted.
1/24
Let’s start with the obvious: Trump desperately wants the gold medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, mainly because Obama got one. That’s why he’s now LARPing as a “peace maker” in every conflict: Israel-Gaza, Azerbaijan-Armenia, India-Pakistan, and of course Ukraine-Russia.
2/24
Another theory is that Putin holds kompromat — compromising material such as videos or documents — that would put Trump in an extremely bad light. Some have suggested it could be tied to the Epstein files or Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about engagement farming: a cynical social media tactic to rack up likes, shares, and comments. From rage farming to AI-powered outrage factories, engagement farming is reshaping online discourse and turning division into profit.
1/23
Engagement farming is a social media tactic aimed at getting maximum likes, shares, and comments, with truth being optional. It thrives on provocative texts, images, or videos designed to spark strong reactions, boost reach, and turn online outrage into clicks and cash.
2/23
One subset of engagement farming is rage farming: a tactic built to provoke strong negative emotions through outrageous or inflammatory claims. By triggering anger or moral outrage, these posts often generate 100s or even 1,000s of heated comments, amplifying their reach.