Vatnik (Russian:ватник,pronounced[ˈvatnʲɪk]) is a politicalpejorative[1][2] used inRussia and otherpost-Soviet states for steadfastjingoistic followers ofpropaganda from theRussian government.[3]
The use of the word originates from anInternet meme first spread by Anton Chadsky onVKontakte in 2011, and later used in Russia, Ukraine, and then in other post-Soviet states. Its meaning refers to the original cartoon, which depicts a character made from the material of a paddedcotton wool (ва́та,Russian pronunciation:[ˈvatə]) jacket (Russian:вáтник,romanized: vatnik) and bearing ablack 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 ofRussian web brigades.[4][5] The name "Vatnik" derives from the cotton wool jacket (Telogreika) that Chadsky's cartoon character in the meme is made from.
The word "vatnik" was originally an informal term for atelogreika, a type of gray, cotton-stuffed quilted jacket that is seen as "a cheap, highly unglamorous item of clothing". Russian linguist Gasan Guseinov, speaking about the jacket, said, "A vatnik is a garment of poor, destitute people who possess nothing else and who are ready to wear it for the rest of their lives."[6]
The meme was created by the Russian artist Anton Chadsky under thepseudonymJedem das Seine.[7][8][9] His associated picture of an anthropomorphic version of the "vatnik" jacket similar to the title character ofSpongeBob SquarePants was posted onVK for the first time on September 9, 2011. In 2012, the meme became widely popular on the Internet.[10] Chadsky created a group for the character on VK calledRASHKA - 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.[11][12][13] Chadsky'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 theRusso-Ukrainian War started in 2014.[10]We will not let the Russian vata into our homes[a] was the name of a protest held as part of the "Boycott Russian Films" campaign in Ukraine in 2014.[14] In late 2014, the comedy television showVATA TV (original:ВАТА TV) was shown in Ukraine. It was devoted to the "vata" phenomenon. It was hosted by the popular5 Kanal host Viktor Lytovchenko. He mainly spokeSurzhyk, a mixed language with features of Ukrainian and Russian, during the show.[15][16]
The term has been "quicklyreappropriated" and is used as a positive self-descriptor by some pro-government Russian bloggers.[17]The proud name "vatnik"[b] was one of the topics at essays and scientific works competition in theAltai State Pedagogical University, that was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of theSoviet Union victory in theGerman-Soviet War (Second World War) in 2015.[18]
In early 2015, Anton Chadsky reported that he was forced to leave Russia in November 2014 because he feared political persecution by the government.[19] He was living inKyiv and planning to move toBerlin at the time.[13] In November 2016, the Russian government blocked Chadsky's original "RASHKA - THE SQUARE VATNIK" community on the grounds that it "offended ethnicRussians and Russian state officials". In February 2017, a Russian teenager was sentenced to 160 hours of community service for espousing hateful language online about "vatniks".[20]
The term gained prominence in the wake of the full-scaleRussian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The anti-Russian internet groupNAFO uses the Vatnik slang and imagery very commonly in English-language tweets and memes.[21][22] When a disabled RussianT-72 was publicly displayed inVilnius in February 2023, Lithuanian PresidentGitanas Nausėda emphasised using it to "see the vatniks" who came to mourn its capture.[23]
The word also exists inUkrainian asватник (vatnyk), inBelarusian asватнік (vatnik), inLatvian as (vatņiks), inLithuanian as (vatnikas), inCzech asvaťák, and inPolish aswaciak. Its plural in English is "vatniks", or less commonly, "vata", via a direct transliteration of the Russian collectiveва́та.
Vyshyvatnik (Russian:вышиватник,romanized: vyshivatnik) is an equivalent insult for an overly patriotic Ukrainian, and is a blend of "vatnik" andvyshyvanka, a traditional type of Ukrainian embroidered shirt.[24][25]
The wordmobik (from моб(илизо́ванный) (mob(ilizóvannyj), “mobilized”) + -ик (-ik, diminutive suffix) is a derogatory slang term for a mobilised soldier, usually in the Russian military. This term became popular in the West due to internet memes about theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[26]
Journalist Vadim Nikitin, writing for American socialist magazineJacobin, has criticized the trope of the uneducated, working-class "vatnik" Putin supporter asclassist and inaccurate, writing that it "whitewashes and elides the essential role played by themiddle andupper-middle classes in bringing about and sustainingPutinism". He described the trope as the latest iteration of a long history of socialelitism withinRussian liberalism in which it is believed that "only a miniscule [sic] elite – theintelligentsia – was capable of awakening and stewarding the mute, slumbering masses." He compared the term toHillary Clinton's use of the phrase "basket of deplorables" to describe some supporters ofDonald Trump.[27]