Vatnik

Vatnik (Russian: ватник, pronounced [ˈvatnʲɪk]) is a political pejorative used in Russia and other post-Soviet states for steadfast jingoistic followers of propaganda from the Russian government. The use of the word originates from an Internet meme first spread by Anton Chadsky on VKontakte 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 padded cotton wool (ва́та, Russian pronunciation: [ˈvatə]) jacket (Russian: вáтник, romanized: vatnik) 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. The name "Vatnik" derives from the cotton wool jacket (Telogreika) that Chadsky's cartoon character in the meme is made from.