Trending on X, 2 AM: President in Berlin, Cosmos 2612, garage tax, rooftop risks, Zelensky, Lavrov

This roundup ranks the topics Mongolian users discussed most on X between 22:13 on October 19 and 02:33 on October 20, by engagement. Overnight posting volume was low, and 6 topics verified against news sites made the list. Only 6 real, verified topics emerged in this window, so the list was not padded to 10. The media-contracts dispute, the cold and air pollution also drew posts, but there was no new, verified development since the 10 PM roundup, so they were left out. A clip of the finance minister speaking about the Khalzan Buregtei deposit also circulated, but its content could not be checked against news reports, so it was not included. Post metrics were taken at 02:33.

1. President Khurelsukh arrives in Berlin and will go on to a state visit to Finland (new development)

President Khurelsukh's state visit to Germany, already covered in yesterday's roundups, was the most shared topic overnight. According to Montsame, President U. Khurelsukh arrived in Berlin for a state visit from October 19 to 22 at the invitation of German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. German air force jets escorted his plane from the moment it entered German airspace and performed an honorary flyover after landing, while a Bundeswehr guard of honour lined up at Berlin Brandenburg Airport and fired a 21-gun salute. A video of the fighter escort was among the most widely shared posts of the window. It is the first state visit to Germany by a Mongolian head of state in 14 years; the two sides are due to sign a joint declaration and open the exhibition "Genghis Khan and the World of the Mongols."

The Office of the President said Khurelsukh will then pay a state visit to Finland from October 22 to 24 at the invitation of President Alexander Stubb. Some users, meanwhile, asked the Office of the President to say clearly how large the delegation is, how long the trip will last and how it is being paid for.

2. Russia's Cosmos 2612 makes a dangerously close approach to a commercial radar satellite that supports Ukraine

Reports that Russia's military satellite Cosmos 2612 deliberately approached ICEYE-X36, a US-registered radar-imaging satellite of the Finnish-founded company ICEYE, drew attention on X. Citing analysis by space-tracking firm LeoLabs, SpaceNews reported that the two satellites came within roughly 500 metres of each other. Axios reported that ICEYE-X36 is part of a satellite network that has supported Ukraine's military. According to Finland's SpacEconomy, Cosmos 2612 adjusted its orbit slightly after the closest pass early on October 18 and began drifting away. Some posts on X described the target as a "US spy satellite," but ICEYE-X36 is a commercial radar-imaging satellite.

3. More than 45,000 sign the petition to scrap the garage tax (new development)

X users again shared the petition that proposes exempting one privately owned garage or parking space per citizen from property tax, and urged others to sign. According to the E-Zasag platform, the "Scrap the garage tax" proposal initiated by O. Batkhuu had 45,772 signatures as of 2 AM on October 20, 46% of its 100,000 target. The count stood at 38,526 on the afternoon of October 18. The proposal is open until November 5.

4. Users warn that children and young people are reaching high-rise rooftops and top floors unchecked

LiveTV.mn posted a report on X at around 6 PM saying that children had freely reached the top floor of Mongolia's tallest building and filmed there because it had no security guards, and users kept raising the issue overnight. User @Tuuuul44 warned that children and young people repeatedly climb onto the roof of the long-unfinished Khangai hotel building at a high risk of accidents, and urged the capital city governor's office and other officials to close off the access to the roof.

5. Zelensky discusses speeding up Patriot supplies with Lockheed Martin (new development)

After the 6 PM roundup covered Zelensky's offer to halt strikes on Russian refineries in exchange for Patriot missiles, he met representatives of US company Lockheed Martin in Kyiv in the evening. Reuters reported that Zelensky said they discussed ways to speed up supplies of the Patriot system, which is vital to countering Russian ballistic missiles. According to Interfax-Ukraine, he said Ukraine hopes to acquire some ballistic missile interceptors as the company ramps up production, and they also discussed maintaining and repairing F-16 jets in Ukraine.

6. Lavrov holds talks with Iran's foreign minister in Tehran

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on October 19. Al Jazeera reported that it was Lavrov's first visit to Iran since February 2025 and that the talks covered the US-Israeli war on Iran and the regional situation; Gulf Cooperation Council states have pressed Moscow to help halt Iranian attacks and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. According to Sputnik Mongolia and RIA Novosti, Lavrov said the EU and the US had begun undermining global energy stability and that Russia favours stable energy prices.

Methodology: We ranked posts from about 200 major news and influential accounts found through X search, plus more than 50 keyword searches, by an engagement score (likes + 2× reposts + views/100), and checked the facts against news sites. Posts that could not be verified or that carried a risk of defamation were left out. Views expressed by individuals on X do not represent the position of egov.mn.