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 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: