Brian McDonald
@BrianMcDonaldIE
Irish. Long time Russia-based journalist. Interested in facts and objectivity. Not interested in ideology or wishful thinking.
260 Following 31.3K Followers
Dr Paine claims to be an expert on Russia, yet she apparently can't name a single Russian product?
Off the top of my head, there's Kaspersky, Yandex, Lada, Redmond, 12 Storeez, KamAZ trucks, Sukhoi aircraft, Uralmash mining equipment, Rosatom nuclear reactors, Kalashnikov rifles, Baltika beer, Russian Standard vodka, Gloria Jeans, Raketa watches, fibre lasers, medical isotopes, cobalt-60, Splat toothpaste, aerospace-grade titanium and Natura Siberica cosmetics.
And that's without even getting into the oil, gas, fertilisers, grain and metals and such like (or the Ikea glasses, which almost everyone in Europe seems to have in their kitchen).
Show more
Buried in the 29th paragraph, and I kid you not:
"A British defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military information, said a defense police investigation found no evidence to conclusively link the drone sightings in the UK. to Russia."
Show more
This is disinformation (or at best grossly misleading framing). Russia did not “sell 71% of its sovereign gold reserves.” The 71% figure refers only to gold held in the National Wealth Fund, which was drawn down to cover budget deficits and avoid borrowing.
Moscow’s actual sovereign gold stockpile is held by the Central Bank (over 2,300 tons). And thanks to rising gold prices, the value of Russia’s reserves has increased massively since 2022.
By over $216 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Show more
