Roseanna Cunningham

Ukraine is the most heavily mined country in the world after the start of the Russian full-scale invasion. Putting a Russian in charge of mine action is...well, it's hard to find a name for it.

The UN has appointed Russian diplomat Gleb Desyatnikov as Assistant Secretary-General for Mine Action and Police in its Department of Peace Operations. The appointment places a Russian official in a senior UN role overseeing mine-action activities and police-related work within peace operations.

Polish FM Radosław Sikorski: "There is a myth that has been successfully planted in the West that Russia always wins. But things don't always go their way. They lost the Crimean War. They lost the war against Japan. They emerged from World War I with their tails between their legs.

⚡️Ukrainian postal service forms private air defense force, shoots down Russian drones. Ukrainian postal company Nova Poshta has started its own air defense force and shot down Russian attack drones targeting their facilities, Vyacheslav Klymov, co-owner of the Nova group of companies, shared.

BBC report sanitises the overt racism: It notes that organisers warned marchers not to talk to journalists, then gives the "anti-immigration group"'s own sanitised description of itself. It does not report they chanted "England for the white man" in the streets. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This is excellent!

The European Parliament has awarded the Sakharov Prize to the International Criminal Court in a show of support after the Trump imposed sanctions on the court. 👏👏👏 www.euronews.com/2026/10/22/e...

It was an honour to deliver the keynote address at RIE Expo 26 in Noida, India this morning - the world’s second largest clean energy expo. There are so many exciting opportunities to share Scotland’s expertise around the world, and much interest in what we have to offer.

If he can pull the plug on Ukraine, he can pull the plug on America. He's too big to trust.

London does it, Manchester does it, Liverpool does it. Wales and the West Midlands are about to do it. So why is it only in Scotland that the media loses its mind over plans to bring buses into public control? Answer: because it’s an SNP policy and the Scottish media has lost all sense of balance

@NeilMackay.bsky.social - here’s a link to his Instagram a/c & he’s just published a Scottish folk horror novel so he’s defo going to respond to you reaching out 😂 www.instagram.com/reel/DeL2Je4...

Ukraine's Defense Intelligence reported that Russia has approximately 700 ballistic missiles and several thousand cruise missiles at its disposal. Meanwhile, Russian forces are working on developing a new ballistic missile with a range of up to 700 km. That is 200 km further than the Iskander-M.

The White House and the Kremlin share an ideological agenda, a worldview and a geopolitical strategy inews.co.uk/opinion/usa-...

WTAF? How much more loathsome can the USA get? If I was an American I’d have died of shame by now #SlavaUkraini

It is so important that European leaders acknowledge the truth as Kaja Kallas does here. Trump and the USG have been trying to force Ukraine to surrender for almost two years. There has been no recent pivot to Russia. It’s been a constant US policy www.euronews.com/2026/10/20/k...

⚡ "Russians can’t sip margaritas in the EU while Putin bombs Ukraine." EPP MEP Dirk Gotink called on the European Union to implement a complete visa ban on Russian citizens.

Fascist Russia killed a child in a stroller today, after the US hobbled Ukraine’s jet drone interceptors by throttling back the speed of Starlink. Meanwhile, Trump says…

It’s an unpalatable truth, but Meta, TikTok, and hopefully it goes without saying, X, aren’t sustainable to rely on for political amplification, cultural promotion/marketing or community organizing. It’s long past time for new platforms/means and to move on.

Milk so aged it could itself be a weapon. '94 President Clinton praises Ukraine’s courageous decision to surrender its nuclear arsenal, pledging full US support for its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. He also considers it unlikely that russia would ever attempt to seize Crimea.

Musk is an enemy of Europe. There is no justification for continuing to use his products

The slithering back to even vaguely positive or optimistic analyses of Trump’s second term after the abominations of January 6th cleared the way for today’s abject betrayal of the Ukrainian people. It’s astonishing how many public figures on both sides of the Atlantic are complicit in the crime.

More evidence to the fact, that Trump is driving a deeply-rooted pro-Putin agenda. This is not collateral damage of a confused president, this is this presidency's strategic intent in foreign policy.

🤷‍♂️ Andy Burnham, your #SNP26 pass is still waiting to be collected at the front desk.

The games politicians play burdzeyeview.substack.com/p/the-games-...

Midweek update. This is the week when trusting the USA was shown to be a catastrophe. The second part has a detailed primer on the Starlink/Starshield sabotage of Ukraine. This is US being a fully fledged Putin ally and will cause many Ukrainian deaths phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/midweek-up...

We can all do our bit - donate directly to help Ukraine u24.gov.ua

OK. Wit’s end here. Does Bluesky allow you to mute accounts for like 6 hours, or a day or something? Like Mastodon does? I’m fed up with the minute by minute Trump coverage by @atrupar.com but don’t want to vanish him entirely #WouldPreferToVanishTrump

Leaving X has, I'm pretty sure, hit my bookings and career. But it comes at the massive bonus of a) my own mental wellbeing and b) not providing free content for the owner of Starlink:

I basically think if you've ever written a 'defence spending has to go up' column (and I've written a fair few), you have no business asking any one else to take a hit from *that* if you won't even take the hit of not being on X.

⚡️ 'This cannot be a coincidence' — Ukraine's Starlink access restricted without warning, Zelensky adviser says. Ukraine relies on Starlink to operate its mid-strike drones in Russian-occupied Ukraine.

Horrific footage from Kyiv last night. Russia attacks residential buildings every day. Civilians are killed every day. Putin does not stop. His goal is the genocide of Ukrainians. How can sanctions be eased against a war criminal who is only intensifying his crimes? 📹: libkos/Instagram

Abandoning Ukraine will be a stain on the United States for the rest of time

"The event would be extraordinary, even for a country that has long employed capital punishment." sojo.net/articles/new...

Man in a gilet stood on platform 12 gives up on reading the display and asks ChatGPT out loud if he is on the right platform for his train. I don’t want to be dramatic about it but Eratosthenes figured out the circumference of the Earth using a stick and knowledge of a distant well.

‘Rupert Lowe, who set up the far-right party Restore Britain after falling out with Farage, earns about as much from posting about mass deportations and rape gangs on Elon Musk’s X as he does from being an MP.’ @petergeoghegan.bsky.social on party fundraising. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

‘The time for talking is over. The time for action is now.’ #ScottishIndependence #SNP #SNPConference2026 burdzeyeview.substack.com/p/the-clock-...

Putin puppet Trump claimed there is an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, saying: "Both parties have agreed." As always, Trump is delusional and is lying. At this hour, Russia is attacking nine regions of Ukraine with strike UAVs and guided aerial bombs.

Zelensky told Barak Ravid in a phone call: "The announcement about the ceasefire was news to me. But if the Russians agree to a ceasefire in the energy sector, Ukraine will also agree. If Trump agreed to this with Putin, please let us know when the ceasefire begins" liveuamap.com/en/2026/11-o...

😎

Free weekend out. The big story is that Donald Trump is now free to be what he always was--strong supporter of Vladimir Putin and an agent pushing for Russian victory. He no longer has to pretend he cares at all about Ukrainian dead or Russian War crimes. phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/weekend-up...

If you have an Instagram account take a look at Kenny Boyle attacking the AI enshittification of Scottish folklore. And this will apply to the folklore of every country in the world #ScottishFolklore #KennyBoyle #AI #ArtificialIntelligence www.instagram.com/reel/DeD33GQ...

Maybe the most amazing aspect of the Russo-Ukraine War is that Russia is getting backing from both China and the USA, the two largest powers of the moment--and Ukraine could still emerge triumphant as long as Europe backs it stoutly.