“Born on the day the Russians liberated Auschwitz, I grew up to read Chinese at Cambridge (1964-8), during which time the middle the Cultural Revolution began. I later taught English as a foreign language in Italy, France, and England till 1976 and, with the end of the Cultural Revolution, was finally invited to teach in Shanghai. I spent two years there, arriving 6 months before the death of Mao Zedung and witnessing the changes as the Deng Xiaoping faction consolidated its power. On my return from China and set up shop as a piano maker/restorer. I joined Twitter in early 2014 and became interested in the Ukraine/Donbass situation, particularly about the barrage of false narrative or anti-Russian news. I followed the Russians to Syria in September 2015 and have since specialized in the Syrian war as the starting point for a grand shift in the axis of power in the world. While I closely watching developments on the ground and at the international level, I take special interest in the manipulation of opinion by governments and the press using an unprecedented output of disinformation, fakery, and fraud. In the end, I look forward to a day when the perpetrators of these crimes can be quickly exposed, prosecuted and punished under new popular judicial procedures.”
Tatiana Pahlen (aka TatianaNY) is a poet, writer, illustrator, and cartoonist, and owing to a beautify, charm and intelligence, something of the socialite on the Manhattan social scene. Tatiana joined Twitter back in 2011 and took up the banner for Russia about the same time as the rest of us. The following pull quote from a recent conversation between us puts in perspective “the westerners” including Germany’s Angela Merkel, Petro Poroshenko, and what I have loving come to refer to as the “western oligarchs”:
“So, because these thirsty vampires, longing for their vanished youth, they would rather welcome the wreckage and total destruction of the places they used to live, even for a short lifespan. By conquering them, they eradicate their own past.”
I confess to being amazed at the number of famous people Tatiana knows who frequent NYC. High society and the political, philosophical, even artistic elites. She’s prolific in a way most so-called NATO trolls will never grasp.
Greg Galloway is another prominent social media voice often referred to as either a Kremlin or Putin troll. I’ve been connected to Greg (aka @NewsCoverUp) the last couple of years. When I asked him about his motivation for chiming in on the anti-Russia nonsense, here’s what he Tweeted me back:
“The mass killings of civilians in Odessa, and later in the whole of the Donbass got me seriously upset and compelled me NOT to remain silent. The MH17 and Syrian tragedies later got me even more committed… I simply cannot remain idle while during my lifetime such widespread massacres occur. Events in my personal life seem dwarfed by the scope of the human drama and tragedies unfolding under our very eyes.”
I confess that I have depended on Greg for social media support for my own research, stories, and ideas over the last few years. Like so many, he is always supportive on top of being informative on the real stories from the Donbass and Syria.
Enrico Ivanov, also known as @Russ_Warrior, is another prominent pro-Russian operative on Twitter. A historian, teacher, and archeologist, Enrico is not actually his real name, but his dedication to finding out and revealing the truth of this Cold War II mess is reflected in his tweets, and in this comment, he gave me:
“I decided to join this battle because I always liked geopolitics and I understood that Russia wasn’t the aggressor in all this. So, I wanted to fight against the Orwellian reality of the mainstream media.”
Enrico is one of the most interesting of my Kremlin Troll comrades, I readily admit to admiring him for his ability to cut to the chase when the bullshit and lies of the globalists come into the light.
Maria Engström is an IT professional and a property caretaker who is as dedicated as anyone to the cause of peace. An agent of Putin, she even bought herself her very own Kremlin Troll T-shirt not so long ago. The Swedish conservative who says her country has been destroyed by flaming liberals has been along for the pro-Russia ride ever since Ukraine exploded.
“Following the war against Libya and Syria, and later also the Ukrainian civil war, I quickly noticed that what was reported in the western mainstream media had very little to do with the reality — after talking with people actually living in these places this only got more obvious. To be able to look at myself in the mirror, sleep with a good conscience and feeling good about handing over the world to the next generation I could not just watch the western world burn our planet, destroy nations, kill millions of people, all for greed, power, and geopolitics. I had to speak out, western colonial mindset needs to be challenged, and the horrible consequences of it must come to an end before it’s too late. One great country that I feel is challenging this is Russia, with its foreign policy it seeks to establish a multipolar world, thanks to the Russian intervention in Syria and Crimea’s vote and consequently safe return to the motherland we now have that multipolar world. I have nothing but respect and love for Russia that did not only saved Europe from Nazism in the 1940s but also saved us from a unipolar world in the 2000s. I’m appalled about the demonization and misrepresentation of Russia and President Vladimir Putin in the western mainstream media. Therefore, I’m a ‘Kremlin troll’…”
While I was working with Charles Bausman and the team at Russia Insider I became acquainted with many of the most determined and dedicated pro-Russia activists. Dmitry Zolotarev was one of the most enthusiastic, a contributor and translator who also unearthed a ton of counter narrative. Dmitry is a linguist, journalist, and sportsman who was branded a “Kremlin Troll” very early on by A. Weisburd.
“Russia has been targeted by Western media since forever, even as far back as 200 years ago. It matters not if we are talking about communist Russia, Peter the Great’s era, or the administration of Vladimir Putin. For the media there is ALWAYS something to be afraid of, and there’s ALWAYS something to splash on paper, even if the news is groundless conjecture.
So, Russian society has gotten used to and has been always prepared to things like that. Each time a new anti-Russia narrative arrives, Russia is forced to opposes new media bites by first learning, and then reinventing methods for counteracting. The only thing that has really changed is how technical progress and methodology affect messaging. New technical resources allow Media companies to create and stage anything, even that which never happened.
Today the media can orchestrate anything to make it appear as another “threat coming from Russia” and which general society will willingly bite into. Only for the last two decades have Russian journalists been trained in these new technologies, and only in the last few years have popular media outlets like RT and Sputnik arisen to deliver a true information and counter-narrative to the world.
I believe WE are now more successful in this media war, do you know why? Because Russia uses REAL FACTS, while Western Media delivers on thin air. Real Facts are TANGIBLE THINGS, and NOTHING can beat the TRUTH.”
At the start of this Putin fanboy confessional I introduced you to a real genius, and a man or conviction and faith affectionately referred to as The Saker. Andrei (his given name) is the perfect example of conviction to the cause of truth about Russia. I am sure no one in our midst would argue here. However, with so many extraordinary and deep down good people involved in this nasty business of information warfare, I’ll admit having some difficulty in choosing the Kremlin Troll best suited to end this book. That is until I remembered my good friend Paul Payer.