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 #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.