Brian McDonald
@BrianMcDonaldIE • 28,961 subscribers
Irish. Long time Russia-based journalist. Interested in facts and objectivity. Not interested in ideology or wishful thinking.
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A “horror” wedding video from 1995 has gone viral in Russia after a filmmaker discovered the old VHS tape and digitised it. The footage shows a modest wedding celebration held in the common room of a vocational school in the Moscow region, complete with Soviet-era posters, cheap decorations and the unmistakable atmosphere of the Yeltsin-era. The tape has been labelled “Horror Film: Wedding in Uvarka,” a joke that feels oddly appropriate given the grainy VHS quality and surreal surroundings.
Brian McDonald2,398,819 görüntüleme • 24 gün önce
Putin has met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, describing Turkey as one of Russia’s “privileged partners” in both foreign policy and the economy. The Russian president said major joint projects were continuing, including the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, and told Erdogan that Rosatom would meet his request to launch it this year.
Brian McDonald223,153 görüntüleme • 4 gün önce
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told reporters not to “get ahead of ourselves,” adding that Trump has made clear US negotiators aren't bringing “new ideas” to Moscow. “The meeting with the president will indeed take place,” Peskov said. “There will be discussions, ass a rule, previous talks have been fairly lengthy.” He also confirmed that Putin had ordered Russian forces to halt strikes on Kyiv for three days, saying “this is connected with the preparation for and holding of the Americans’ meetings in Kiev.” Asked why the US delegation was in Moscow first rather than Kiev, Peskov replied: “That's something you should ask the negotiators in Washington.”
Brian McDonald39,722 görüntüleme • 17 saat önce
Putin has publicly told Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that Armenia’s decision to begin the process of joining the EU effectively amounts to announcing its departure from the Eurasian Economic Union. “You said that you hadn't announced your withdrawal,” Putin told Pashinyan. “The adoption of a law beginning the process of joining another economic organisation effectively amounts to announcing your withdrawal from ours, because membership in both organisations is incompatible.”
Brian McDonald169,762 görüntüleme • 4 gün önce
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot claims that “Russia is weak” and is now in “serious difficulty,” pointing to fuel shortages and economic problems. “Have you seen the state Russia is in today? There are fuel shortages across the country. The economy is at rock bottom,” Barrot said. Barrot also accused Moscow of trying to conceal those setbacks through “aggressive provocations” against EU states, including the incident at Leipzig airport. “The truth is that Russia is the one in serious difficulty, and it would be very much in its interest to bring this war to an end,” he said.
Brian McDonald25,700 görüntüleme • 19 saat önce
Those afraid of heights, look away. A base jumper in Russia’s Ingushetia lost control almost immediately after opening his parachute, was spun through the air and carried towards the rocks. Convinced he was finished, he shouted: “That’s it, I’m f*cked.” He was saved by landing in a snowdrift and escaped without injury.
Brian McDonald1,009,044 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
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Porn creator Sonya Marmeladova struggled to keep a straight face as a Russian judge read out the list of sex toys to be returned to her after sentencing, this morning. “A leatherette collar resembling a choker, connected by a silver-coloured metal chain; one pink vibrator; three phallus-shaped objects in brown, beige and flesh colours respectively; one blue anal plug; and one black leather harness… shall be deemed returned.”
Brian McDonald931,063 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
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 McDonald2,651,098 görüntüleme • 3 ay önce
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It seems the crackdown on Russia-adjacent porn content has reached the United States. Nikita Tyukalo, a 21-year-old Russian-American former basketball player, has pleaded not guilty in Washington state to four counts of second-degree human trafficking and leading organised crime. According to FOX 13 Seattle, prosecutors allege that Tyukalo recruited young women to produce adult content while controlling their accounts and finances. KOMO News reports that the alleged operation was based at a luxury mansion in Bellevue known locally as the “OnlyFans house,” while KING 5 says he is being held on $5 million bail.
Brian McDonald659,449 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
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 McDonald4,031,215 görüntüleme • 7 ay önce
![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 McDonald2,394,101 görüntüleme • 6 ay önce
Norway has impounded the Russian research vessel Professor Molchanov in Svalbard at the request of Ukraine’s Naftogaz, Interfax reports. The Nord-Troms District Court ordered the seizure on August 31 as part of Naftogaz’s efforts to recover compensation for assets it lost in Crimea in 2014. The vessel, whose home port is Arkhangelsk, has been ordered to remain in Barentsburg until further notice. Since June 2025, it has operated regular cargo and passenger services between Murmansk and Barentsburg.
Brian McDonald31,271 görüntüleme • 2 gün önce
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 McDonald1,704,407 görüntüleme • 6 ay önce
![Sergey Lavrov says Russia must stop being surprised when other countries deceive it. “We still hear the same reaction ‘we have been deceived again,’ [but] why do we continue to expect not to be deceived? How many more times can we fall for it?” “There remains a certain hope that surely a scoundrel cannot be a complete scoundrel,” he said. “But deception is the foundation of diplomacy.”](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2093319939763351558/amplify_video_thumb/2093299974507552768/img/UtK-Ypjg-6SpRFsQ.jpg)
Sergey Lavrov says Russia must stop being surprised when other countries deceive it. “We still hear the same reaction ‘we have been deceived again,’ [but] why do we continue to expect not to be deceived? How many more times can we fall for it?” “There remains a certain hope that surely a scoundrel cannot be a complete scoundrel,” he said. “But deception is the foundation of diplomacy.”
Brian McDonald68,503 görüntüleme • 8 gün önce
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 McDonald983,880 görüntüleme • 3 ay önce
North Korean street cleaners are too expensive, says the mayor of Russia's Orenburg. The city has been hiring workers from Senegal since spring because locals don’t want the job on the city’s terms of about $730 a month, a six-day week and a one-hour lunch break. Mayor Albert Yumadilov says he's happy with the Senegalese workers because they are willing to do hard work even at weekends. He added that the city tried last year to bring in North Korean workers, but failed because North Koreans would not come for $730 a month. According to him, they earn two to three times more, roughly $1,460 to $2,200 a month, in other Russian regions that have agreements with Pyongyang.
Brian McDonald454,279 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce