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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Add me to your top-secret group chats!
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…
Two days after Alan Kurdi died, I bought this ferry ticket from Bodrum (the beach where his body washed up) to the Greek island of Kos for 155 Turkish lira - then about €20.
But Alan and his family had the wrong (Syrian) passports, so they spent €4,000 for space on a rubber dinghy that capsized.
But Alan and his family had the wrong (Syrian) passports, so they spent €4,000 for space on a rubber dinghy that capsized.
September 2, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Two days after Alan Kurdi died, I bought this ferry ticket from Bodrum (the beach where his body washed up) to the Greek island of Kos for 155 Turkish lira - then about €20.
But Alan and his family had the wrong (Syrian) passports, so they spent €4,000 for space on a rubber dinghy that capsized.
But Alan and his family had the wrong (Syrian) passports, so they spent €4,000 for space on a rubber dinghy that capsized.
Historians will remember August 22, 2025 as the moment Canada ran out of hockey analogies… (also known as the end of high-schticking?)
August 22, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Historians will remember August 22, 2025 as the moment Canada ran out of hockey analogies… (also known as the end of high-schticking?)
Protests in Kharkiv tonight too - despite the very high chance of a Russian missile attack - against President Zelensky’s decision to dismantle much of the anti-corruption apparatus established after the 2014 revolution…
July 22, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Protests in Kharkiv tonight too - despite the very high chance of a Russian missile attack - against President Zelensky’s decision to dismantle much of the anti-corruption apparatus established after the 2014 revolution…
It’s a long story, but one I cherish (and one that briefly did the rounds at The Other Place…)
x.com/markmackinno...
x.com/markmackinno...
July 19, 2025 at 7:17 PM
It’s a long story, but one I cherish (and one that briefly did the rounds at The Other Place…)
x.com/markmackinno...
x.com/markmackinno...
Breaking - International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Taliban leader Mullah Akhundzada and Afghanistan's chief justice Haqqani for the crime against humanity of persecution "on gender grounds against girls, women and other persons non-conforming with the Taliban’s policy on gender"
July 8, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Breaking - International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Taliban leader Mullah Akhundzada and Afghanistan's chief justice Haqqani for the crime against humanity of persecution "on gender grounds against girls, women and other persons non-conforming with the Taliban’s policy on gender"
Nice to be recognized on this @hilltimes.com list of Canada’s top 50 “foreign policy influencers” alongside @theglobeandmail.com colleagues Robert Fife and @stevenchase.bsky.social
www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/0...
www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/0...
July 5, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Nice to be recognized on this @hilltimes.com list of Canada’s top 50 “foreign policy influencers” alongside @theglobeandmail.com colleagues Robert Fife and @stevenchase.bsky.social
www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/0...
www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/0...
If only he had Bibi's phone number...
June 24, 2025 at 11:03 AM
If only he had Bibi's phone number...
The aftermath of a Russian missile strike that killed at least six people in this apartment block in western Kyiv. Rescue teams are still digging through the rubble. They found another body shortly after this photo was taken…
June 23, 2025 at 9:49 AM
The aftermath of a Russian missile strike that killed at least six people in this apartment block in western Kyiv. Rescue teams are still digging through the rubble. They found another body shortly after this photo was taken…
The first time I was in this shelter under a Kyiv hotel - 1,215 days ago - messages came flooding in from well-wishers shocked missiles were being fired at a major city in 2022. Three years on, we’re all too used to it - in Kyiv, Tel Aviv, Beirut and Tehran.
I truly hope it’s not your city next.
I truly hope it’s not your city next.
June 22, 2025 at 10:54 PM
The first time I was in this shelter under a Kyiv hotel - 1,215 days ago - messages came flooding in from well-wishers shocked missiles were being fired at a major city in 2022. Three years on, we’re all too used to it - in Kyiv, Tel Aviv, Beirut and Tehran.
I truly hope it’s not your city next.
I truly hope it’s not your city next.
Looking like a loud night ahead for much of Ukraine. (Each red triangle represents a Russian drone currently in the air…)
June 22, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Looking like a loud night ahead for much of Ukraine. (Each red triangle represents a Russian drone currently in the air…)