Vatnik (slang)

Short description: Russian political pejorative

Activists in Ukraine using the image of "Vatnik" in the action of "Boycott Russian Films" campaign

Vatnik or vatnyk (Russian: ватник) is a political pejorative[1][2] used in Russia and other post-Soviet states for steadfast jingoistic followers of propaganda from the Russian Government.[3]

The use of the word originates from an Internet meme first spread by Anton Chadskiy on VKontakte in 2011, and later used in Russia, Ukraine, then in other post-Soviet states. Its meaning refers to the original cartoon, which depicts a character made from the material of a padded cotton wool jacket and bearing a black eye, which is used to disparage someone as a blindly patriotic and unintelligent jingoist who pushes the conventional views presented in Russian government media as well as those of Russian web brigades.[4][5] The name "Vatnik" derives from the cotton wool jacket (Telogreika) that Chadskiy's cartoon character in the meme is made from.

## Contents

* 1 Internet meme
* 2 Examples of use
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Internet meme

The meme was created by the Russian artist Anton Chadskiy under the pseudonym Jedem das Seine.[6][7][8] His associated picture of an anthropomorphic square-shaped quilted jacket similar to the title character of SpongeBob SquarePants was posted on VK for the first time on September 9, 2011. In 2012, the meme became widely popular on the Internet.[9] Chadskiy created the group for the character on VK called RASHKA - THE SQUARE VATNIK. Rashka is a derogatory nickname for Russia, derived from the English pronunciation of the country's name with the Russian -k diminutive suffix attached.[10][11][12]

Chadskiy's original drawing has been reproduced and modified many times. Features that are consistently included are gray color, a red nose from drinking vodka, and a black eye, presumably from a fistfight with another vatnik.[3] The meme became much more widespread in society after the Russian military intervention in Ukraine started in 2014.[9]

In early 2015, Anton Chadskiy reported that he was forced to leave Russia in November 2014 because he feared political persecution by the government.[13] He was living in Kyiv and planning to move to Berlin at the time.[12]

## Examples of use

* Orest Liutyi wrote a song about vatniks, as a remake of the famous Russian song "Landyshy" (Russian: Ландыши). In this song, he named Vladimir Putin as a khuylo.[14]
* We will not let the Russian vata into our homes[15] – the name of the Ukrainian "Boycott Russian Films" campaign;[16]
* Inter is a "vata" channel of Firtash the "kremlyad" (a portmanteau meaning "Kremlin whore")[17] – a critical comment in social networks;[18]
* The proud name "vatnik"[19] – one of the topics at essays and scientific works competition in the Altai State Pedagogical University, that was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union victory in the German-Soviet War (Second World War).[20]
* During the end of 2014, the comedy television show VATA TV (original: ВАТА TV) was shown in Ukraine. It was devoted to the "vata" phenomenon. It was hosted by the popular 5 Kanal host Viktor Lytovchenko. He had mainly spoken Surzhyk during programs.[21][22]
* During New Year 2015 celebration, the author of the meme Anton Chadskiy held a humorous action – "Vatnik of the year" award. This action was controversial on the Russian Internet.[23]

## See also

* Russophobia
* Ruscism
* Putinversteher
* Mankurt
* Tankie
* Little Pink

## References

1. ↑ Fialkova, Larisa; Yelenevskaia, Maria (2016-04-14). "The Crisis in Ukraine and the Split of Identity in the Russian-speaking World" (in en). Folklorica 19. doi:10.17161/folklorica.v19i1.5721. ISSN 1920-0242. https://journals.ku.edu/folklorica/article/view/5721. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
2. ↑ Devlin, Anne Marie (2016-11-25). "Lard-eaters, gay-ropeans, sheeple and prepositions: lexical and syntactic devices employed to position the other in Russian online political forums" (in en). Russian Journal of Communication 9 (1): 53–70. doi:10.1080/19409419.2016.1219642. ISSN 1940-9419.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jim Kovpak (March 2015). "Why the West can't Understand Russia". Russia! magazine. http://readrussia.com/2015/06/09/vatnost-–-why-the-west-cant-understand-russia/.
4. ↑ "Ukraine bans Russian journalists accused of 'stirring hatred'". 2 June 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/02/ukraine-bans-russian-journalists-margarita-simonyan.
5. ↑ ""Tesak's daughter" moved to Ukraine to organize "safari" hunting on gay people". 27 May 2015. http://upogau.org/eng/inform/uanews/worldnews_2280.html.
6. ↑ Яких росіян називають словом «ватник» (in Ukrainian). Gazeta.ua. 10.04.2014
7. ↑ Антон Чадский (in Russian). Vatnik
8. ↑ Антон Чадский . Vkontakte
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 10 слів і фраз, що увійшли до вжитку вінничан 2014-го року (in Ukrainian). vlasno.info. 10.01.2015
10. ↑ "РАШКА - КВАДРАТНЫЙ ВАТНИК". https://vk.com/public_rushka.
11. ↑ Создатель «Ватника» Антон Чадский: Как я стал русофобом (in Russian). Snob. 14.10.2014
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 АНТОН ЧАДСКИЙ BARHOT ИНТЕРВЬЮ , video; (in Russian). Road Control. 18.01.2015
13. ↑ У Києві порівнювали «ватників» і «бандериків» (in Ukrainian). Channel "24". 31.03.2015
14. ↑ ОРЕСТ ЛЮТИЙ — «ВАТНИКИ» (in Ukrainian and Russian). OrestLutiy. 05.12.2014
15. ↑ Original text in Ukrainian: «Не пустимо в хату російську вату»
16. ↑ «Не пустимо в хату російську вату» — театралізована акція під Держкіно (in Ukrainian). Radio Liberty. 04.09.2014
17. ↑ Original text in Russian: «Интер — ватный канал кремляди Фирташа»
18. ↑ У соцмережах повстали проти «Інтера» за концерт зірок, які підтримали агресію РФ (in Ukrainian). ТСН. 1+1. 01.01.2015
19. ↑ Original text in Russian: Гордое имя – «ватник»
20. ↑ Алтайський університет оголосив конкурс творів: "Горде ім'я — «ватник» (in Ukrainian). Ukrayinska Pravda. 14.01.2015
21. ↑ ВАТА-TV (in Russian). Pervyi volont'orskiy
22. ↑ ВАТА TV . Official channel in YouTube
23. ↑ Кровавый торт ватной действительности (in Russian). rufabula. 12.01.2015

## External links

* Vatnik on Lurkmore (in Russian)
* Brief history of "vatnik" term (video)

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