Brian McDonald
@BrianMcDonaldIE • 26,592 subscribers
Irish. Long time Russia-based journalist. Interested in facts and objectivity. Not interested in ideology or wishful thinking.
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Putin has accused Western European elites of “provoking chaos” and trying to drag “more and more countries” into it. He said the current turmoil “didn't arise by itself,” but is the result of the world undergoing “the largest structural transformation in recent decades.” According to Putin, this isn't a normal shift “from one phase of a cycle to another,” but a change in “the very paradigm of global development.”
Brian McDonald112,239 views • 1 day ago
![Putin responds to Zelensky’s ‘open letter,’ calling for a direct meeting between the two leaders (my translation): “Yesterday my press secretary, Mr Peskov, showed me this letter. But we had a working meeting, a working dinner with the president of Uzbekistan. Honestly, I didn’t have time to read it. “This morning Peskov slipped the paper to me again. I glanced through it quickly, but still, there are a few things I’d point out. First, the author of the letter mentioned my age. Well, what can I say? Of course, everyone should think about age. But it seems to me that plenty of political figures do their jobs at my age, and some are even older than I am. “The main thing is not age. Age matters, of course, but it’s not the main thing. The main thing is whether a person is capable and able to work. Some of my colleagues, older than me, show plenty of energy. Whether they do their jobs well or badly is another matter. That’s a political judgement. But they are active. “Then I noticed the point about how long someone has held elected office. That’s an important question, of course. But you have to go to elections. You have to go to elections, not be afraid of them, and always act within the Constitution. “Because holding on to power outside the Constitution is called usurpation of power. That’s is a criminal offence. So there is no need to be afraid. Go to elections. I would advise everyone to do that. Especially since in Ukraine they were saying elections would be held soon, and then somehow everyone went quiet. It’s not clear why. “Now, the author also writes that one should not follow the agreements reached in Anchorage. More than that, he says real guarantors for possible agreements between Russia and Ukraine should be found in [Western]Europe. “Well, reliable guarantors never hurt. Of course they don’t. But why the US administration and President Trump are being rejected in that role, I don’t really understand. They want weapons from the United States, but for some reason they don’t want the US administration and President Trump as guarantors. That raises questions. “We all saw Donald, in front of the whole world, educating the author of this letter and pointing out the dress code. You understand? Constantly playing Rambo, First Blood, may be appropriate somewhere. But not everywhere. Not everywhere. “As for the agreements overall, I want to thank Donald for this work. It’s useful, no doubt. But there’s still work to do. We need to continue.”](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2062921877769556002/amplify_video_thumb/2062921749017038848/img/QoDWL3TY13MePS5i.jpg)
Putin responds to Zelensky’s ‘open letter,’ calling for a direct meeting between the two leaders (my translation): “Yesterday my press secretary, Mr Peskov, showed me this letter. But we had a working meeting, a working dinner with the president of Uzbekistan. Honestly, I didn’t have time to read it. “This morning Peskov slipped the paper to me again. I glanced through it quickly, but still, there are a few things I’d point out. First, the author of the letter mentioned my age. Well, what can I say? Of course, everyone should think about age. But it seems to me that plenty of political figures do their jobs at my age, and some are even older than I am. “The main thing is not age. Age matters, of course, but it’s not the main thing. The main thing is whether a person is capable and able to work. Some of my colleagues, older than me, show plenty of energy. Whether they do their jobs well or badly is another matter. That’s a political judgement. But they are active. “Then I noticed the point about how long someone has held elected office. That’s an important question, of course. But you have to go to elections. You have to go to elections, not be afraid of them, and always act within the Constitution. “Because holding on to power outside the Constitution is called usurpation of power. That’s is a criminal offence. So there is no need to be afraid. Go to elections. I would advise everyone to do that. Especially since in Ukraine they were saying elections would be held soon, and then somehow everyone went quiet. It’s not clear why. “Now, the author also writes that one should not follow the agreements reached in Anchorage. More than that, he says real guarantors for possible agreements between Russia and Ukraine should be found in [Western]Europe. “Well, reliable guarantors never hurt. Of course they don’t. But why the US administration and President Trump are being rejected in that role, I don’t really understand. They want weapons from the United States, but for some reason they don’t want the US administration and President Trump as guarantors. That raises questions. “We all saw Donald, in front of the whole world, educating the author of this letter and pointing out the dress code. You understand? Constantly playing Rambo, First Blood, may be appropriate somewhere. But not everywhere. Not everywhere. “As for the agreements overall, I want to thank Donald for this work. It’s useful, no doubt. But there’s still work to do. We need to continue.”
Brian McDonald84,552 views • 1 day ago
Russian media is noting that Putin appears to have received a higher-level airport reception in Beijing than Trump did last week. Putin was personally greeted by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, a serving Politburo member, whereas Trump was met by Vice President Han Zheng, who no longer sits on either the Politburo or the Communist Party’s Central Committee. Some Chinese protocol analysts explain that sending a Politburo member to the airport signals that Beijing considers the visitor an especially important guest.
Brian McDonald2,649,427 views • 17 days ago
Putin claims that any country could, like Russia, lose access “at any moment” to assets held in dollars and euros and pretexts can always be found, “it could even be about attitudes toward the LGBT community.“ He said sanctions and the blocking of Russia’s international reserves, which he described as “in effect, theft,” have “irreversibly” affected the position of the dollar and euro as global currencies. “This is simply an obvious fact,” Putin said.
Brian McDonald68,356 views • 1 day ago
Putin announces plans to relocate more major state-owned companies and corporations from Moscow to the regions. He said the decentralization drive is designed to ease pressure on the capital, boost regional business development and strengthen local budgets. Putin cited RusHydro and PSB Bank as positive examples, and said a relocation decision has been made for aerospace giant the United Engine Corporation. Similar decisions are in the final stage for companies in the Russian Railways group and other railway construction structures, he added. Convincing top managers (not to mention their wives!) to give up Rublevka for places like Irkutsk and Novosibirsk will be another matter.
Brian McDonald31,110 views • 1 day ago
A guy from Yekaterinburg has gone viral in Russia after waking up following a night out and discovering he was travelling to Siberia's Tyumen inside a freight train wagon full of coal. Still half-asleep and clearly horrified, he still found the professionalism to send his colleague a video message first explaining that he probably wouldn’t make it into work that day.
Brian McDonald981,252 views • 25 days ago
People in southern Russia are reporting a surge in unusually aggressive Hyalomma ticks, which reportedly actively chase hosts instead of simply waiting in grass like ordinary forest ticks. Russian media say the large ticks have become particularly active across regions including Rostov, Krasnodar, Stavropol, Astrakhan and Kalmykia. The main concern is that Hyalomma ticks can carry Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, a potentially deadly disease with a high fatality rate if untreated. Some reports also claim the ticks are far less responsive to standard repellents than ordinary species.
Brian McDonald928,436 views • 24 days ago
Russian media has published audio from the developing emergency aboard the International Space Station. NASA says astronauts were ordered to move into their spacecraft and prepare for possible evacuation after an air leak in the Russian segment worsened. In the audio, ground control can be heard instructing the crew to execute emergency procedure “EMER 3.4 step 5” and begin deconfiguring, including opening hatches and reporting status after each one. There are currently seven people aboard the ISS: three Russians, three Americans and one French astronaut.
Brian McDonald27,718 views • 1 day ago
Putin met at the Kremlin today with Deputy PM Dmitry Patrushev, a figure often mentioned as his potential eventual successor. Patrushev is 48 and the son of Nikolai Patrushev, the former FSB chief and longtime Security Council secretary, one of the most powerful hardliners in Putin’s inner circle. The subject was earthy: the sowing campaign.
Brian McDonald263,091 views • 10 days ago
Horrifying scene in Russia's Voronezh: a drunk father reportedly lowered his underage son from a 7th-floor balcony on a rope as some kind of “stunt” while friends filmed instead of stopping him. Prosecutors say it posed a real threat to the boy’s life. Police are investigating. The child, incredibly, wasn’t physically hurt.
Brian McDonald4,028,559 views • 4 months ago
![Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who died in 2022, warned more than a decade ago that the US would eventually strike Iran and predicted a fallout far bigger than Washington expects (my translation): "I’m the only one making predictions while everyone else stays quiet. So ask your questions now. I’ll be gone soon, and you won’t get another chance to hear the real answers. Then in 20 years you’ll say, 'You know, Mr Zhirinovsky was already telling us back then what we should’ve done, and we didn’t listen?' "So what’s their plan? Occupy another bunch of Arab countries, finish off Syria, then hit Iran by force. What’s the trigger here? Where is the pressure on Iran really coming from? It's under the banner of 'democratisation by force,' but in reality it’s about taking control of energy resources. Because the crisis everyone talks about as being in the future is already here." "The US needs to weaken China. If Iran is attacked, oil goes to $200 a barrel. China can’t handle that. The EU can’t either. One strike on Iran weakens both Europe and China at once. But then there’s Russia. How do you weaken Russia? Iranian refugees can only go one way [and that's] north. To the south is Syria, where a pro-American regime would already be in place. To the south is Iraq, where they’ve been fighting for years and can easily stir things up again. So north it is, through Azerbaijan."](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2027706733867462736/amplify_video_thumb/2027705745274216449/img/Z1AE2DX-MnRv0X07.jpg)
Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who died in 2022, warned more than a decade ago that the US would eventually strike Iran and predicted a fallout far bigger than Washington expects (my translation): "I’m the only one making predictions while everyone else stays quiet. So ask your questions now. I’ll be gone soon, and you won’t get another chance to hear the real answers. Then in 20 years you’ll say, 'You know, Mr Zhirinovsky was already telling us back then what we should’ve done, and we didn’t listen?' "So what’s their plan? Occupy another bunch of Arab countries, finish off Syria, then hit Iran by force. What’s the trigger here? Where is the pressure on Iran really coming from? It's under the banner of 'democratisation by force,' but in reality it’s about taking control of energy resources. Because the crisis everyone talks about as being in the future is already here." "The US needs to weaken China. If Iran is attacked, oil goes to $200 a barrel. China can’t handle that. The EU can’t either. One strike on Iran weakens both Europe and China at once. But then there’s Russia. How do you weaken Russia? Iranian refugees can only go one way [and that's] north. To the south is Syria, where a pro-American regime would already be in place. To the south is Iraq, where they’ve been fighting for years and can easily stir things up again. So north it is, through Azerbaijan."
Brian McDonald2,392,866 views • 3 months ago
Putin has signaled a new clampdown on use of Latin script Russian, as the country continues to move away from the West. “Advertising in Latin script is everywhere,” he said, adding that it is somewhat less common in Moscow but still widespread. He said some brand names cannot realistically be changed, especially global brands, but insisted that companies should still think about how to make advertising more “digestible” for Russians and suitable for the Russian market.
Brian McDonald64,062 views • 4 days ago
A surreal scene from St Petersburg: a Russian police officer briefly kept playing the VR game Beat Saber while his colleagues arrested a young Belarusian wanted back home for avoiding military conscription, 47news reports. The man was celebrating his birthday with friends. Staff say police had already come looking for him twice before.
Brian McDonald1,703,144 views • 2 months ago
Russian futurologist Sergey Pereslegin says Covid was a critical turning point for humanity, insisting that the pandemic response amounted to a vast social experiment rather than a normal public-health intervention. Pereslegin claims Covid was “a flu like any other,” more serious than the Hong Kong flu but less severe than the Spanish flu, and that previous pandemics never led governments to “shut down the whole world” or confine people to their homes. He says the lockdown era revealed two things: first, that new industries such as remote work had become powerful enough to make mass shutdowns physically possible; and second, that many freedoms associated with the industrial era, including democratic rights and freedom of movement, could be suspended “with one stroke of the pen.”
Brian McDonald160,503 views • 11 days ago
A viral track repeating just two words,“Yanis Varoufakis,” is spreading across Russia's clubland. Created by a Moscow DJ, the tune has taken off among zoomers, with critics linking its appeal to a revival of 90s/early 2000s techno. The irony is that most listeners likely have no idea who Yanis Varoufakis is, they just like the rhythm of the name.
Brian McDonald1,352,767 views • 2 months ago
![Putin says Russia will not object to Armenia moving closer to the EU if Yerevan believes it is in the interests of the Armenian people. He added that if Armenia leaves the Eurasian Economic Union, ordinary migrant requirements will apply to Armenian citizens. There are over 2 million Armenians n Russia. Putin said Russia and Armenia are bound by “ties of friendship” and “special relations” going back centuries, adding that Moscow’s talks with Yerevan on the issue must be “frank, sincere and absolutely open.” “I told [PM] Nikol Pashinyan this too, and he will confirm it: everything that is good for Armenians is acceptable and good for Russia,” Putin said.](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2060391601394892986/amplify_video_thumb/2060391013386964993/img/kqLd-LEY70RzsMyb.jpg)
Putin says Russia will not object to Armenia moving closer to the EU if Yerevan believes it is in the interests of the Armenian people. He added that if Armenia leaves the Eurasian Economic Union, ordinary migrant requirements will apply to Armenian citizens. There are over 2 million Armenians n Russia. Putin said Russia and Armenia are bound by “ties of friendship” and “special relations” going back centuries, adding that Moscow’s talks with Yerevan on the issue must be “frank, sincere and absolutely open.” “I told [PM] Nikol Pashinyan this too, and he will confirm it: everything that is good for Armenians is acceptable and good for Russia,” Putin said.
Brian McDonald89,247 views • 8 days ago
Sergey Lavrov says Russia will push for international recognition of German Nazi crimes against Soviet civilians as genocide on a par with the Holocaust. He pointed to the scale of the killings: "The atrocities reached a scale unprecedented in history… around 14 million civilians in the Soviet Union were killed during the occupation... [and these crimes have no statute of limitations." Lavrov linked this to the legal framework that followed WWII, noting that "the outcomes of the Nuremberg Tribunal laid the foundation" for the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
Brian McDonald475,103 views • 1 month ago