Hasan Piker's Position on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

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Both prior to and during the Russian invasion of Ukraine , Hasan Piker has maintained a stance that is simultaneously supportive of Ukraine and hyper-critical of involvement by western nations, particularly the United States . At the onset of the conflict, Hasan denied the impending invasion, arguing that Ukraine and Russia sought peace and that news of a potential invasion was simply "western fearmongering" headed by "bloodthirsty maniacs" within the American government. Two weeks following Hasan’s assertion, Russia would go on to invade Ukraine. Upon hearing this, Hasan concedes that while his prior assumptions were incorrect, western state departments should remain at fault for pumping out disinformation relating to the conflict. When asked for examples of such disinformation, he points to predictions from western entities that Russia would bomb and invade Kyiv . Two days following Hasan’s assertion, Russia would go on to bomb and invade Kyiv.

Following the invasion, Hasan would hold on-stream donation goals towards Ukrainian relief funds, and consistently decry the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin . Despite this, Hasan has continued to maintain a staunch anti-western stance which has often-times mirrored Russian-talking points/propaganda. This has included:

• Claiming America supporting Ukraine has been genuinely devastating for the country.
• Stating the US should force Ukraine to negotiate a ceasefire.
• Arguing Ukraine has no more men left to mobilize.
• Advocating for Ukraine to pursue appeasement towards Russia.
• Claiming NATO's goal is to maintain American capitalism as the dominant force.
• Claiming Russia can't annex a country(Ukraine) it already owns. Hasan goes on to claim NATO is in fact the aggressor by attempting to invite Ukraine.

Position Prior to invasion

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Hasan claims Russia can't go to war with Ukraine.

On February 5, 2022, President Joe Biden's senior officials informed lawmakers that Russia had gathered 70% of the forces needed to mount a full-scale invasion of Ukraine .

On February 8, 2022, Hasan claims that Russia and Ukraine "can't go to war" and "the idea that Russia is going to do a land invasion into Ukraine is psychotic." He goes on to state "The only people that want that to happen or act like it could potentially happen are western backers of war, people that are far away, people that will stand to benefit from this because they're gonna sell weapons."

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Hasan claims Ukraine and Russia want to have diplomatic talks, and that "bloodthirsty maniacs have completely taken over the American government." Hasan goes on to praise China's efforts in expanding it's influence, and lauds former president Donald Trump for his handling of North Korea .

On February 11, 2022, reports from the White House warned of an imminent Ukrainian invasion and urged citizens to flee the country immediately. That same day, Hasan states Ukraine and Russia truly want peace and that the US is "acting sus". Minutes later, Hasan listens to a press conference from Putin about how Ukraine joining NATO would mean all of Europe joining a war with Russia. Hasan uses this speech to critique U.S. leadership, saying, "Does this sound like a person who's like 'I'm gonna invade Ukraine?' No, he's saying [he] doesn't want Ukraine to be a part of NATO."

On February 15, 2022, in response to reports that "diplomacy is continuing to work", Hasan tweets the following:

	hasanabi @hasanthehun
“no way dude that’s crazy!!!!!!!! hopefully everyone in my chat who thought war was imminent will now come in w a new perspective. engage in some self examination as to why you got blindsided by msms war drums once again."
SOURCE · 11:44 AM · Feb 15, 2022

On February 16, 2022, Hasan uploads a video titled "I WAS RIGHT ABOUT WAR IN UKRAINE" with a description that reads "Are we going to war? No. [Russia] was never going to invade Ukraine, and the western media has been fear mongering and banging the war drums the whole time." In the video, Hasan praises himself for predicting Russia’s failure to invade Ukraine. Hasan bases this assumption on reports stating Russia claimed they were pulling back some of their troops from the border. Hasan would go on to react to a press conference in which Biden states the claims have not been verified, and that an invasion is still possible. Hasan laughs this off, noting how silly it is for Biden to push diplomacy while also urging Americans to leave the country. In his closing remarks, he criticizes the "bloodthirsty maniacs that have completely taken over the American government."

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Hasan arguing rumours of Russia potentially bombing and invading Kyiv are unfounded, and based off western State Department lies.

On February 16, 2022, Hasan tweets the following:

	hasanabi @hasanthehun
“this is the hill i will die on. russia cannot launch an urban counter insurgency war in a neighboring country w/ 44 million ppl. with or without nato support. this is why i have been saying he won’t invade ukraine. not because of anything else. he’s a bad person not a mad one."
SOURCE · 10:29 AM · Feb 17, 2022

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Hasan explaining that it is impossible for Russia to annex territory that they already own. He goes on to claim NATO is in fact the aggressor by attempting to invite Ukraine.

On February 17, 2022, a chatter asks Hasan:

"What's wrong with NATO expansion if majority population voted in favor, would that mean NATO expansion is justified?"

Hasan responds that it is impossible for Russia to annex territory that they already own. He goes on to claim NATO is in fact the aggressor by attempting to invite Ukraine.:

"In that circumstance, NATO is 1000% an aggressor outside fucking force. Russia is not. Russia is annexing it's own fucking territory that it's had. Its own territory full of it's own people, is not the same as NATO being like we're going to turn your country into a base and put literal fucking military bases and rockets into your country. Also it's not even gonna fucking happen. Here's the other part of this conversation. Let's be real. There are a fuck-load of NATO countries that do not want Ukraine to be a part of NATO. They do not want Ukraine to be a part of NATO. Do you wanna know why? Because Ukraine is at the very least supposed to be a border-buffer zone between all the fucking NATO military bases and Moscow. Because Russia could do this. Russia does these war games specifically to show, if you're gonna put Ukraine in NATO, we're just gonna invade Ukraine and then, that's gonna be a fucking World War. If America actually never obligated it's obligations, and... stopped the expansion of NATO. Then Russia wouldn't do these fucking war games regularly, because they already have a fuck load of economic interest in having a peaceful relationship and a trade partnership with Germany and numerous other European countries."

— Hasan

Position Following the invasion

Initial Reaction to the Invasion

On February 21, 2022, it is reported that Putin has ordered the Russian military to enter southeast Ukraine to perform "peacekeeping duties". Following this news, Hasan admits that Russia has in fact invaded Ukraine. However, Hasan tempers this admission, and argues "There's been a lot of information that has been wrong -- completely wrong -- and there's still a lot of information that the western State Department is pumping out [...] like Russia is going to go and overtake Kyiv and they're going to go into Ukraine." In the same video, when asked about why he thinks a lot of the information from the State Department is wrong, he cites their predictions that Russia will bomb and invade Kyiv.

On February 24, 2022, Russia launches an attack for control of Kyiv.

Hasan disagrees with Adam Something's video: "How The Gravel Institute Lies To You About Ukraine". Calls Adam a Nazi. WIP

Adam Something's response to Hasan calling him a Nazi.

On March 25, 2022 YouTube content creator Adam Something, released a video discussing misinformation published by The Gravel Institute in relation to U.S. involvement in Ukraine. In the video, Adam discussed how The Gravel Institute misrepresented the conflict as a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia, downplayed Russian aggression(both historical and present), and exaggerated the influence of far-right groups in Ukraine. Adam claims the video was crafted with the explicit purpose of undermining the credibility of Western-aligned perspectives on the conflict, and to accuse the U.S. of "funding Neo-Nazis" in Ukraine.

A full breakdown of Adam's critiques of the video can be found in the table below.

Timestamp	The Gravel Institute's Claim	Adam's Critique
5:20	The Gravel Institute’s frames Ukraine as a proxy war between Russia and the U.S.	Adam critiques The Gravel Institute’s framing of Ukraine as a proxy war. Goes on to explain Ukraine’s sovereign decision to defend itself against Russian imperialism against actual Russian proxies. He argues just because Ukraine's interest in not falling victim to Russian imperialism happens to align with western interests of not allowing Russian imperialism, does not indicate they are a proxy of the US.
6:27	The Gravel Institute claims America funded Neo-Nazis in Ukraine.	Adam discusses The Gravel Institute's claims about American aid to Neo-Nazis in Ukraine.
8:35	The Gravel Institute claims Ukraine never recovered following the fall of communism.	Adam debunks The Gravel Institute's claims that Ukraine GDP and life expectancy fell following fall the fall of communism. Points out that male life expectancy in Ukraine is at an all time high, and their decision to compare Ukraine's life expectancy to countries nowhere near the region(Syria, Iraq, North Korea) is strange. Adam suspects that The Gravel Institute purposely left these regions off(e.g. Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary) as they were former Soviet regions that fully integrated into the west and had great success(some having higher life expectancies than Russia).
11:01	The Gravel Institute discusses Stephan Bandera . Explains he is a Ukrainian that sought independence from Russia and allied with Nazis to massacre Poles, Jews, and Arabs. The video goes on to point to several pieces of reverence to Bandera in modern western Ukraine in the form of monuments, streets, and museums.	Adam explains that The Gravel Institute omitted that the resurgence of reverence for Bandera occured after Russia invaded Ukraine. He asserts the real push for decommunization and an establishment of a sovereign Ukraine identity occurred after Crimea was taken by Russia. Adam points to other regions in the world where extremist groups(e.g. ISIS gained prominence following imperialist actions. Adam suspects that The Gravel Institute's failure to extend this concept to Ukraine is done with the goal of fear-mongering about Nazis in the region, which in turn is done with the goal of pandering to tankies.
12:45	The Gravel Institute claims discusses Ukraine's East-West divide, and explains how the Western side was more closely aligned with Western Europe while the Eastern side was more closely aligned with Russia. The video then discusses former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and his relatively Russian friendly agenda.	Adam takes great issue with The Gravel Institute's framing of Yanukovych as a "relatively" Russian friendly politician when he was in fact staunchly pro-Russian. Adam goes on to point to Yanukovych's jailing of pro-western political opponents, and his fraudulent actions in attempting to steal the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election .
14:04	The Gravel Institute video showcases several clips from the Euromaidan protests . They go on to argue the protest was hijacked by sinister ultra-nationalists from the Right Sector . The Gravel Institute claims this group played a part in a "brutal sniper attack [which] killed dozens of protestors and police alike".	Adam once again takes great issue with The Gravel Institute's framing, arguing they are selectively showcasing clips from the video protest which specifically contained far-right imagery. Adam points out the footage of the "brutal sniper attack" shown by the Gravel Institute, selectively removed footage of the police opening fire on protestors first(not the other way around as the video claimed).
22:28	The Gravel Institute claims a far-right, US recognized, faction had replaced Viktor Yanukovych following his election loss.	While Adam states these individuals were in fact from the far-right, he argues they merely made up the interim government and all eventually lost their elections within the next month. Adam goes on to take issue with The Gravel institute's framing of the interim government as "US recognized", and argues this was stated to frame the US as funding a nazi-aligned government. He likens this to similar tactics utilized by PragerU.
25:51	The Gravel Institute describes the annexation of Crimea by Russia as a means of "encouraging a surge of Russian nationalism for their own benefit and held a disputed referendum to legitimize the decision".	Adam takes issue with The Gravel Institute's language when describing the annexation of Crimea. He likens it to describing Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland , and claiming he held a disputed referendum to legitimize the decision.
29:48	The Gravel Institute claims the Azov battalion is a Neo-Nazi group arisen from street gangs, and was utilized to fend off Russian invasion in the east. The video points out that the then Interior Minister of Ukraine had integrated the battalion into Ukraine's national guard.	Adam questions what else the Ukrainian government was supposed to do at the time given their military was falling apart and had nobody else to turn to but the group of highly motivated nationalists who had an unquestionable allegiance to Ukraine. Adam argues the battalion's rise to prominence could have been avoided if Russia didn't invade Ukraine to begin with.
34:02	The Gravel Institute claims Ukraine had more incidents of anti-Semitic hate crimes than all former Soviet countries combined.	Adam points out that the claim in the article from The Gravel Institute was under heavy scrutiny as the report's authors "merely summed up the incidents they found reported online". Adam then brings up an article claiming Ukraine is the least antisemitic country in central Europe.

Toward the end of the video, Adam critiques The Gravel Institute for their response to accusations of disseminating blatant Russian propaganda, namely their issuance of clarifying statements and adjustments to video titles. Adam claims the institute "can't play this game forever", and should simply delete the video altogether as such pieces work to actively scare people away from leftism.

Timestamps

0:24: Adam discusses the importance of combating misinformation online, especially in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He goes on to explain how The Gravel Institute and PragerU propagates such misinformation. 3:30 Adam defines "tankies" as "nazis painted red", and claims the Gravel Institute's content caters to them. 5:20: Adam critiques The Gravel Institute’s framing of Ukraine as a proxy war. Goes on to explain Ukraine’s sovereign decision to defend itself against Russian imperialism. 6:27: Adam discusses The Gravel Institute's claims about American aid to Neo-Nazis in Ukraine. 8:35: Adam debunks The Gravel Institute's claims that Ukraine GDP and life expectancy fell following fall the fall of communism. 11:01 The Gravel Institute discusses Stephan Bandera . 14:52: Adam exams selectively edited footage used by The Gravel Institute to mislead viewers about the Euromaidan protests and far-right involvement. 22:44: Adam discusses The Gravel Institute’s claims about far-right influence in Ukraine’s interim government. 25:23: Adam critiques The Gravel Institute's portrayal of "language politics" in Ukraine and Russia’s use of language as a geopolitical tool. 28:24: Adam discusses the Russian-backed referendums in Crimea and the Donbas . Accuses The Gravel Institute of downplaying these events as acts of imperialism. 29:57: Adam discusses The Gravel Institute’s claims about the integration of the Azov Battalion into Ukraine’s National Guard. 32:08: Adam discusses how The Gravel Institute undermines its anti-imperialist stance by perpetuating pro-Russian narratives. 36:26: Adam critiques The Gravel Institute’s overall messaging, reviews some tweets and comments from the organization.

Hasan's reaction to Adam Something's video WIP

Upon reviewing Adam Something's video, Hasan took particular issue with Adam's rejection of The Gravel Institutes claims of the US funding Neo-Nazis in Ukraine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMrKy7MbFW0

Adam Something's response WIP

https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/tp49kg/adam_something_going_for_hasans_jugular_jesus/

The Worst Takes On The War In Ukraine - Lonerbox. WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb2Oz5F6Suk&t=1s https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/11daulq/the_worst_takes_on_the_war_in_ukraine_lonerbox/

Hasan refers to the Kerch Bridge attack as a Terrorist attack WIP

https://x.com/DylanBurns1776/status/1681780820049108993 Hasan calls bridge attack a terrorist attack

Hasan Continues To Miss On Ukraine - Lonerbox WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKs0z8-UxeE

Ethan Klein vs Hasan Ukraine WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ir-b54hPm4

Ukrainians Respond to HasanAbi. 1.5 hour documentary. WIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPaHRTi49Ow

Ukrainian employee of the H3 podcast talks about Hasan's russian propaganda

https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/1ghyxi4/ukrainian_employee_of_the_h3_podcast_talks_about/

Clips/videos to source, will not be in final article

https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/1aj6y6v/hasan_tankie_moments_1_hasan_says_the_us_should/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/1d0vlum/hassan_says_he_is_not_a_russian_imperialist_and/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/1fbt6vs/hasan_is_incredulous_to_the_idea_he_shilled_for/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/1fakwhe/vaush_takes_a_shot_at_hasan/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/1ez3opc/what_does_hasan_think_the_us_president_does_does/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/19ds6r2/hasan_calls_for_nato_to_be_abolished_cant_be/