Mark MacKinnon
@markmackinnon.bsky.social
Senior International Correspondent for The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper. Now based in London, after stops in Moscow, Beijing and the Middle East. Author of The New Cold War (the book, not the thing).
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Stupider and stupider we go…
February 4, 2026 at 10:03 PM
Stupider and stupider we go…
I never thought of myself as a Mastercard person, but now I am…
January 29, 2026 at 7:16 PM
I never thought of myself as a Mastercard person, but now I am…
The Russian-speakers of Donbas are being persecuted. Lenin invented Ukraine.
January 25, 2026 at 6:26 PM
The Russian-speakers of Donbas are being persecuted. Lenin invented Ukraine.
How could I forget Alexander Lukashenko! Of course, the FIFA Peace Prize winner did not...
January 19, 2026 at 2:28 PM
How could I forget Alexander Lukashenko! Of course, the FIFA Peace Prize winner did not...
I'd wager this is the angriest statement ever issued by the Nobel Peace Prize people...
January 18, 2026 at 12:28 PM
I'd wager this is the angriest statement ever issued by the Nobel Peace Prize people...
Nothing would make Russia and China happier than to see Trump break NATO over... Greenland.
January 14, 2026 at 12:36 PM
Nothing would make Russia and China happier than to see Trump break NATO over... Greenland.
Yup, that’s 71 more Shahed drones currently en route to Kyiv…
January 8, 2026 at 10:51 PM
Yup, that’s 71 more Shahed drones currently en route to Kyiv…
First time in all my visits to Ukraine that I’ve ended up in a shelter before I made it to my hotel room…
(I deeply envy the folks who thought ahead and packed a tent!)
(I deeply envy the folks who thought ahead and packed a tent!)
January 8, 2026 at 10:32 PM
First time in all my visits to Ukraine that I’ve ended up in a shelter before I made it to my hotel room…
(I deeply envy the folks who thought ahead and packed a tent!)
(I deeply envy the folks who thought ahead and packed a tent!)
Zelensky continues to re-shape his inner circle, adding former Canadian deputy PM Chrystia Freeland as an economic advisor.
Freeland has always been proud of her Ukrainian roots - in the 1990s her mother Halyna helped draft Ukraine’s post-independence constitution
Freeland has always been proud of her Ukrainian roots - in the 1990s her mother Halyna helped draft Ukraine’s post-independence constitution
January 5, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Zelensky continues to re-shape his inner circle, adding former Canadian deputy PM Chrystia Freeland as an economic advisor.
Freeland has always been proud of her Ukrainian roots - in the 1990s her mother Halyna helped draft Ukraine’s post-independence constitution
Freeland has always been proud of her Ukrainian roots - in the 1990s her mother Halyna helped draft Ukraine’s post-independence constitution
Nation building??
January 5, 2026 at 9:29 AM
Nation building??
Ukrainian President Zelensky has just posted a video from the outskirts of Kupyansk, a city Putin claimed Russian troops captured three weeks ago.
Just the edge of the city - but still an incredibly brave thing for Zelensky to do, with drones in constant operation over the city...
Just the edge of the city - but still an incredibly brave thing for Zelensky to do, with drones in constant operation over the city...
December 12, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Ukrainian President Zelensky has just posted a video from the outskirts of Kupyansk, a city Putin claimed Russian troops captured three weeks ago.
Just the edge of the city - but still an incredibly brave thing for Zelensky to do, with drones in constant operation over the city...
Just the edge of the city - but still an incredibly brave thing for Zelensky to do, with drones in constant operation over the city...
Here’s the air-raid situation in Ukraine tonight. Note the icons of cruise missile-carrying planes in the air to the east, as well as missile-capable ships in the Black Sea.
The white circles are Russian drones currently in the sky.
All indications are that this will be an hours-long attack…
The white circles are Russian drones currently in the sky.
All indications are that this will be an hours-long attack…
December 5, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Here’s the air-raid situation in Ukraine tonight. Note the icons of cruise missile-carrying planes in the air to the east, as well as missile-capable ships in the Black Sea.
The white circles are Russian drones currently in the sky.
All indications are that this will be an hours-long attack…
The white circles are Russian drones currently in the sky.
All indications are that this will be an hours-long attack…
One former political prisoner, Vladimir Kara-Murza, honours another, Siarhei Tsikhanousky (along with his wife, Belarusian opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya), at tonight’s Magnitsky Awards in London.
November 13, 2025 at 9:36 PM
One former political prisoner, Vladimir Kara-Murza, honours another, Siarhei Tsikhanousky (along with his wife, Belarusian opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya), at tonight’s Magnitsky Awards in London.
“The Gaza of maps and memories is gone, replaced by a monochrome landscape of rubble stretching flat and still for 180 degrees.”
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Israeli military escorts some foreign journalists into the parts of Gaza it still occupies…
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Israeli military escorts some foreign journalists into the parts of Gaza it still occupies…
November 5, 2025 at 8:44 PM
“The Gaza of maps and memories is gone, replaced by a monochrome landscape of rubble stretching flat and still for 180 degrees.”
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Israeli military escorts some foreign journalists into the parts of Gaza it still occupies…
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Israeli military escorts some foreign journalists into the parts of Gaza it still occupies…
Pretty sure that’s a new - though very fitting - cover for Orwell’s masterpiece…
(Spotted in a Damascus bookshop window.)
(Spotted in a Damascus bookshop window.)
October 31, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Pretty sure that’s a new - though very fitting - cover for Orwell’s masterpiece…
(Spotted in a Damascus bookshop window.)
(Spotted in a Damascus bookshop window.)
I’ve seen a few now, and can confirm that statues of dictators always look ridiculous after they (inevitably) fall…
October 28, 2025 at 3:48 PM
I’ve seen a few now, and can confirm that statues of dictators always look ridiculous after they (inevitably) fall…
Anyone know if this is the first time UNIFIL has used its weapons vs an Israeli target?
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Anyone know if this is the first time UNIFIL has used its weapons vs an Israeli target?
Syria’s transition.
(The new flag painted over the Assad regime banner, on wall in the Old City of Damascus…)
(The new flag painted over the Assad regime banner, on wall in the Old City of Damascus…)
October 25, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Syria’s transition.
(The new flag painted over the Assad regime banner, on wall in the Old City of Damascus…)
(The new flag painted over the Assad regime banner, on wall in the Old City of Damascus…)
Today’s front page of @theglobeandmail.com - featuring my report on life and death in the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad, as the frontline approaches: www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...
October 4, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Today’s front page of @theglobeandmail.com - featuring my report on life and death in the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad, as the frontline approaches: www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...
Michael Valpy with a great final salute to Ross H. Munro, one of my predecessors in The Globe and Mail’s China bureau…
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
September 30, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Michael Valpy with a great final salute to Ross H. Munro, one of my predecessors in The Globe and Mail’s China bureau…
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
Russia's overnight attack on Ukraine: 579 drones, 32 cruise missiles and eight ballistic missiles (of which 552 drones, 29 cruise and two ballistic missiles were shot down).
Zelensky says main targets were "infrastructure, residential areas, civilian enterprises."
At least 3 people were killed.
Zelensky says main targets were "infrastructure, residential areas, civilian enterprises."
At least 3 people were killed.
September 20, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Russia's overnight attack on Ukraine: 579 drones, 32 cruise missiles and eight ballistic missiles (of which 552 drones, 29 cruise and two ballistic missiles were shot down).
Zelensky says main targets were "infrastructure, residential areas, civilian enterprises."
At least 3 people were killed.
Zelensky says main targets were "infrastructure, residential areas, civilian enterprises."
At least 3 people were killed.
Dnipro and nearby Pavlohrad seem to be the focus of tonight’s attack - have heard a series of explosions, and plenty of buzzing drones and anti-aircraft fire…
September 20, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Dnipro and nearby Pavlohrad seem to be the focus of tonight’s attack - have heard a series of explosions, and plenty of buzzing drones and anti-aircraft fire…
I found out today via CPAC (the Canadian one) that I have a new job!
(Pretty sure they mean Steven MacKinnon...)
(Pretty sure they mean Steven MacKinnon...)
September 19, 2025 at 6:18 AM
I found out today via CPAC (the Canadian one) that I have a new job!
(Pretty sure they mean Steven MacKinnon...)
(Pretty sure they mean Steven MacKinnon...)
Apparently, today’s theme is unexpected incursions…
September 10, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Apparently, today’s theme is unexpected incursions…
Sirens across much of Ukraine already, and it’s only 8 pm local time…
September 10, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Sirens across much of Ukraine already, and it’s only 8 pm local time…