In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce the American-British social media personalities, Tristan and Andrew Tate (@tatethetalisman and @cobratate).
They’re best-known for their social media grifts and allegations of human trafficking and rape.
1/22
The history of the Tate brothers was introduced thoroughly in my original Vatnik Soup thread, but since then so much has happened that this pathetic duo needs another review. The soup will go through a lot of the evidence and videos in which the Tates incriminate themselves.
2/22
The Tates became (relatively) rich through their webcam (pimping?) businesses and self-help courses targeted at young, desperate (incel?) men. At some point, they had up to 75 women working for them, and the brothers later admitted that the business was a “total scam”.
3/22
Later they launched several pyramid scheme-type platforms like “Hustler’s University”, “The Real World” and “War Room”. All of them were costly, required their users to work for Andrew, and offered very little substance. How do we know this? Lemme tell you.
4/22
In Nov 2024, the Tates’ “Real World” Discord clone was hacked and all the information leaked. The Tates stole the code for the server, along with its vulnerabilities, from another project called Revolt. Tech-savvy people realized this and breached and took over the server.
5/22
The hackers stole detailed information of over 320,000 emails, and contents of all public and private chats which were then given to DDoSecrets for anyone to review. According to the metrics, the site was earning the Tates around 5.6 million USD per month.
6/22
In Dec 2022, Romanian police arrested both Tate brothers and two women. All four were suspected of human trafficking, forming an organized crime group and one of them was suspected of rape. The brothers were formally charged in 2023, naming seven alleged victims.
7/22
In 2024 the case grew even bigger: a second indictment mentioned 35 alleged victims of trafficking, including one who was only 15 at the time.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, the bros are being investigated in the UK for allegations of rape, human trafficking and tax evasion.
8/22
According to the documents, Andrew “repeatedly engaged in sexual intercourse and anal and oral sexual acts,” while “knowing she was 15 years old.” According to her, Andrew also beat her up with a belt and choked her – one time so hard that she fainted.
9/22
Because of these serious allegations, the Tates were put on house arrest and barred from leaving Romania. But in February 2025, they received assistance from a group of corrupt kleptocrats, as the Trump administration suddenly pressured Romania to lift these restrictions.
10/22
For quite some time, the Tates have been fully integrated into the MAGAsphere. They’re friends with Don Jr., Andrew has been interviewed by @TuckerCarlson – in turn promoted by Musk, of course, who has also interacted with him and promoted him on a regular basis.
11/22
It’s not actually known who pressured the Romanian officials to release the Tates, but we can always guess.
For example, “free speech platform” Rumble paid Andrew Tate over 9 million EUR annually. Peter Thiel, JD Vance and David Sacks have all invested in Rumble.
12/22
The reason why the billionaire broligarchs are aligning with the Tates could be related to their wealth and social media influence, especially among young men. 80% of British boys aged 16-17 have seen Andrew’s content, and 45% of British men 16–24 view him positively.
13/22
On 27 Feb 2025, Romania caved in to US pressure, allowing the Tates to flee to the US. Romanian prosecutors said they remain “under judicial supervision”. UK lawyer Matthew Jury,however, said that “any suggestion that the Tates will now face justice in Romania is fanciful.”
14/22
After landing in Florida, Andrew Tate told reporters he and his brother were “largely misunderstood,” insisting the accusations were just a conspiracy against them and that they did nothing wrong. He also declined to comment on whether they’d ever return to Romania.
15/22
But the thing about Andrew Tate is that, even though he always denies any wrongdoings, there’s tons of videos where he admits to them. There’s clips where he’s talking to a woman, ADMITTING that he beat her before. There’s also plenty of other evidence like testimonies.
16/22
Yet, MAGA Republicans champion him as a conservative freedom fighter promoting traditional values. After arriving in the US, he and his brother were “formally welcomed” by the Tampa Bay Young Republicans (@TBYR) and invited to speak at one of their events.
17/22
But not everyone welcomed the Tates with open arms – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated, “Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that type of conduct.” Maybe the Tates thought they’d be more welcome in a state where @mattgaetz (and Jeffrey Epstein) resided.
18/22
And all these allegations are just the tip of the iceberg of the depravity of Andrew and Tristan Tate. They’ve also threatened to sue a victim of a Pakistani-rape-gang in the UK. And, as is tradition, they’ve also scammed people with their own crypto shitcoin, $DADDY.
19/22
The Tate brothers’ & their father’s allegiance to Putin & Russia were extensively covered in the previous soup. Tristan has been more vocal about the war in Ukraine, but otherwise he's quite unremarkable - he doesn't even have his own Wiki page.
To conclude, the Tates are conmen accused of serious crimes, including sexual acts with a minor.
Yet, somehow, they are being worshipped by most MAGA Republicans who deny their crimes on a regular basis. And now the brothers are fully integrated into the MAGAsphere.
21/22
In Finland, however, the big brother Andrew is best-known for his tendency to “culturally appropriate” Finnish sauna by sitting on the kid’s bench in the measly temperature of 50 ºC, all the while wearing his swimming trunks. And this guy calls himself the “ultimate alpha”.
22/22
The 2nd edition of “Vatnik Soup — The Ultimate Guide to Russian Disinformation” is officially out!
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.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the Ukrainian SBU’s “Spiderweb” operation and the main disinformation narrative vatniks have been spreading during the afterfall. While domestic Russian media stays silent, the vatniks and Russian milbloggers have been extremely loud.
1/20
This operation was probably the most impactful strike since the drowning of the Moskva, massively reducing Russia’s capability to bomb Ukrainian cities (or anyone else’s). It involved smuggling 117 FPV drones hidden in trucks into Russia. Once near airbases,…
2/20
…the roofs opened remotely, launching drones in synchronized waves to strike targets up to 4,000 km away. The mission took 18 months to plan. The unsuspecting Russian truck drivers who transported them had no idea they were delivering weapons deep behind their own lines.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian movie director, propagandist, and former priest: Ivan Okhlobystin. He’s best known for his strong support for the war on Ukraine and for his radical views, which are often used as a testbed for the domestic Russian audience.
1/20
Ivan was born in 1966 from a short-lived marriage between a 62-year-old chief physician and a 19-year-old engineering student. She later remarried, and the family moved from Kaluga province to Moscow. Ivan kept the surname Okhlobystin from his biological father.
2/20
After moving to Moscow, Ivan began studying at VGIK film school. He soon became a playwright for theatre productions and also wrote for Stolitsa magazine, which he later left because, as he put it, “it had become a brothel.”
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Ukrainian-born former State Duma deputy, Vladimir Medinsky. He is best known as one of the ideologues of the “Russkiy Mir”, for his close ties to Vladimir Putin, and for leading the “peace talks” in Turkey in 2022 and 2025.
1/20
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Medinsky interned as a correspondent on the international desk of the TASS news agency, learning the ways of propaganda at an early age. Some time later, he earned two PhDs – one in political science and the other in history.
2/20
As is tradition in Russia, Medinsky’s academic work was largely pseudo-scientific and plagiarized. Dissernet found that 87 of 120 pages in his dissertation were copied from his supervisor’s thesis. His second dissertation was also heavily plagiarized.