Pekka Kallioniemi

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Pekka Kallioniemi
Pekka Kallioniemi.jpg
Kallioniemi in 2024
Born1981 or 1982 (age 43–44)
Education Tampere University (MA, PhD)
Website vatniksoup.com

Pekka Kallioniemi (born 1981 or 1982) [1] is a Finnish researcher and social media influencer. He is known for Vatnik Soup, a series of Twitter posts which covers Russian propaganda. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Biography

Kallioniemi graduated from Kuusamo Business College. He obtained a Master's degree in interactive technology and a doctorate in 2018 from Tampere University. Later, he became a postdoctoral researcher there. [1]

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Kallioniemi started to post about the war on Twitter, with his account becoming popular in Autumn 2022. In early 2025, Kallioniemi left the university to focus on his social media career. [1] Kallioniemi is assisted by a Lithuanian business partner. His activities are partially funded by the Netherlands and Estonia. [1] For his work, Kallioniemi became a subject of harassment and legal threats. [5]

Vatnik Soup

Starting in 2022, Kallioniemi began a series of Twitter threads, which he called Vatnik Soup. This name references the word Vatnik , a Russian pejorative term for supporters of Vladimir Putin. The threads covered people and organizations whom Kallioniemi considered to be spreaders of Russian disinformation. [6] [7] Vatnik Soup was co-authored by Dutch historian Morten Hammeken. [8]

Initially, he covered local Finnish figures such as Janus Putkonen and Johan Bäckman. His account became especially popular after he dedicated a series of posts to Patriarch Kirill, primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. [1] The series also covered Donald Trump and Noam Chomsky. [9] Kallioniemi told The Baltic Sentinel , "I conduct qualitative research focusing on personas—understanding who spreads Kremlin narratives and what motivates them... I always try to refer to a source. I do add a bit of personal analysis, which would probably be excluded in actual scientific work, but I always cite sources. If I don't have a source, I don't make the claim. Truthfulness is the essence of what I do." [10]

In September 2024, Kallioniemi published a book based on the series. [11]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Marttinen, Mikko (11 August 2025). "Valheiden paljastaja" [The revealer of lies]. Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish).
  2. ↑ Lähteenmäki, Pekka (14 November 2024). "Pahimpia Venäjä-propagandan levittäjiä tutkinut suomalainen supervaikuttaja listaa: Näin synkkä on Trumpin "kauhukabinetti"" [A Finnish Super-Influencer Who Has Studied the Worst Spreaders of Russian Propaganda Lists: This is How Grim Trump's "Horror Cabinet" Is]. Talouselämä (in Finnish).
  3. ↑ Stenvall, Niko (13 May 2025). "Suomalainen Pekka sai Dmitri Medvedevin raiteiltaan" [Finn Pekka Derailed Dmitry Medvedev]. Iltalehti (in Finnish).
  4. ↑ "Propagandaforscher Kallioniemi: "Österreich ist eine Brutstätte der Spionage"" [Propaganda Researcher Kallioniemi: "Austria Is a Breeding Ground for Espionage"]. Der Standard (in German). 29 October 2023. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023.
  5. ↑ Kirjonen, Leo (24 April 2023). "Suomalaistutkija paljastaa Kremlin trolleja – joutui itse kovan häirinnän kohteeksi" [Finnish researcher reveals Kremlin trolls – was subjected to heavy harassment]. Verkkouutiset  [ fi ] (in Finnish).
  6. ↑ Smart, Jason (28 May 2023). "'Vatnik Soup' - Too Hot for Moscow's Apologists' Taste". Kyiv Post .
  7. ↑ Dasgupta, Shougat (2023-11-29). "Russian propagandists turn their attention to Gaza". Coda Story . Retrieved 2025-11-17.
  8. ↑ Hammeken, Morten; Kallioniemi, Pekka (28 May 2025). "How Russia's Fake Spirituality Became a Key Weapon in the Kremlin's Disinformation Toolbox". Byline Times .
  9. ↑ Olsen, Lasse (24 October 2024). "Vatnik Soup – eller internetblafferens guide til russisk propagandasuppe?" [Vatnik Soup – or the internet hitchhiker's guide to Russian propaganda soup?]. Solidaritet (in Danish).
  10. ↑ Oidsalu, Meelis (2024-07-18). "VERDICT OF A 'VATNIK HUNTER' ⟩ "Western Policymakers Don't Understand the Scale of the Disinformation Problem"". The Baltic Sentinel. Retrieved 2026-02-01.
  11. ↑ Kim, Catherine (2024-09-07). "Why the Kremlin Loves Social Media". Politico . Retrieved 2025-11-17.
  12. 1 2 Leivo, Tiina (20 March 2025). "Our alum Pekka Kallioniemi: Human-computer interaction researcher became award-winning geopolitical influencer". Tampere University.
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