Trending on X, 2 AM: St Petersburg strike, TDB app, parliament attendance, fuel, Macron

These are the 7 topics Mongolian users discussed most on X between 22:13 on October 18 and 02:15 on October 19 (Ulaanbaatar time), ranked by the likes, reposts and views of the leading posts. Activity was light in the early hours of Monday. The most discussed subjects were new details on Ukraine's drone attack on St Petersburg, complaints about the Trade and Development Bank's new app, Parliament Speaker S. Byambatsogt's remarks on MPs' attendance, a foreign user's post noting that Mongolia has more horses than people, the fuel shortage, European leaders' reactions to the riots in France, and MP D. Tsogtbaatar's post on MGIMO's anniversary. Only 7 genuine, verifiable topics emerged in this window, so the list was not padded to 10. Posts about Al Jazeera's documentary on Altantuya Shaariibuu, the VIVANT series, Prime Minister N. Uchral's meeting in Khovd and former Ulaanbaatar mayor Kh. Nyambaatar also circulated, but there was no new development since earlier roundups, so they were left out. Posts involving personal disputes, insults or unverifiable accusations were also excluded. Figures as of 02:35.

1. St Petersburg drone attack: injuries rise to 15 as Fire Point says VK data centre was hit (update)

Discussion of Ukraine's large-scale drone attack on St Petersburg and the Leningrad region continued overnight. @tuul1234 wrote that Ukrainian forces used FP-1 drones to strike several oil and digital infrastructure sites in St Petersburg and shared a list of the facilities hit, making it the most engaged post of the window.

Since the 10 PM roundup, Reuters has reported that the number of people injured in St Petersburg and the Leningrad region has risen to 15, with one person killed. Ukrainian drone maker Fire Point said the Ukrainian military had struck a VK data centre. VK said its services were operating normally, but the Kyiv Independent reported that users had logged disruptions to VK and its platforms on Downdetector. Russia's defence ministry said it had destroyed 1,015 drones overnight, and about 20,000 people were reported to be without power. The fire at an Ozon warehouse was covered in the 10 PM roundup.

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2. Trade and Development Bank's new app: complaints extend from account numbers to card data (update)

Complaints following the Trade and Development Bank's (TDB) core banking system upgrade continued overnight. The previous roundup covered criticism of the change in account numbers; this time users focused on how the new app works and the difficulties facing older customers. @xaapaaxan asked where salaries would now be paid and whether all contracts would need to be updated, calling the service "coercive", while @ochir_alimaa wrote that all physical and virtual card details in the app had disappeared. @vgnsr410 worried about how pensioners who receive their pensions through the bank and live without family nearby would manage the new settings and registration.

According to the bank's official notice, the TDB Online app has been replaced by the new "TDB App", and users are prompted to install the HID Approve app for two-factor authentication when logging in. To guard against online fraud, the bank advises customers to download the new app only through the old TDB Online app. Account numbers now have 10 digits, but old numbers remain valid and either can be used for payments, with no effect on deposits or loans, the bank said. The bank's notice does not currently address the reports about card information in the app.

3. Byambatsogt: MPs who attend sessions "only when they feel like it" will be held accountable (new)

@UBn_mn posted a video of Parliament Speaker S. Byambatsogt saying: "There are privileged, carefree members who attend sessions when they like and stay away when they don't. These people will be held accountable." Users reacted with both support and sarcasm; @Byamba555 wrote that there should be a law sending members who miss three sessions back to their home districts.

On September 29, LiveTV.mn reported Byambatsogt as saying that members who fail to attend sessions are violating the interests of the country and its citizens, as he urged lawmakers to pass the budget amendment on time. The parliament's website now publishes each member's attendance and voting records in real time.

Alongside the attendance debate, @OtgonbayarOch shared a post highlighting the gap in constituency sizes. According to iKon.mn's data for the 2024 election, Bayanzurkh district's 8th constituency had more than 275,000 voters and 5 seats, while the 13th constituency covering Baganuur, Bagakhangai and Nalaikh had about 49,000 voters and 2 seats.

4. "More horses than people": a foreign user's post on Mongolia spreads (new)

Among English-language posts about Mongolia, the most widely shared was @AlexTran677026's note that "Mongolia has around 3.5 million people and approximately 5.1 million horses, meaning there are more horses than people in the country." The figure is consistent with the National Statistics Office's preliminary results of the end-2025 livestock census, which put the number of horses at 5.13 million, up 9.5 percent from the previous year. Mongolia's population is about 3.5 million.

5. Fuel shortage: a "Diesel 53" video and an import duty waiver (update)

@Baagij13310361 shared a video captioned "O. Tsogtgerel: Diesel 53", recalling how, during petrol shortages more than 30 years ago, people fitted tractor engines into GAZ-53 trucks, and reviving discussion of the current fuel shortage.

According to Mongolian and international media (iToim, Record.mn, Xinhua), the price of fuel supplied from Russia rose by $190 per tonne in October from the previous month, and from October 12 the price of AI-92 petrol rose by 500–550 tugriks per litre to about 3,600 tugriks. At the time, AI-92 stocks covered about 14 days of demand and diesel about 31 days, with supply expected to tighten in November and December. The authorities are in talks to source fuel from China, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea. At its October 7 meeting the government decided to exempt petrol and diesel imported through designated border crossings from customs duty, effective October 21.

6. After the riots in France: Macron addresses the nation as Tusk stresses a tough migration line (update)

European leaders' reactions after cost-of-living protests in France turned into rioting and looting were also discussed by Mongolian users. @tuul1234 shared Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's statement after the Paris protests that "Poland will not repeat the mistakes of other European countries." Tusk wrote on X that Poland would firmly defend its border against illegal migration, pursue its own asylum policy and deport those who break Polish law. Poland's TVN24 noted, however, that there are no reliable sources on whether migrants were behind the violence. @Ganzorig1 argued that unrest driven by fuel and energy price inflation and migration problems was starting to spread beyond France.

French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation on the evening of October 18 (02:00 on October 19, Ulaanbaatar time), saying: "Those who looted will have to pay back for the damage, and those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable." Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said more than 1,800 people had been arrested, while FRANCE 24 reported more than 2,300 arrests over the weekend.

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7. MP D. Tsogtbaatar attends MGIMO's 82nd anniversary (new)

MP and former Foreign Minister D. Tsogtbaatar shared photos from the 82nd anniversary celebrations of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), where he met fellow graduates. He highlighted that the institute's Mongolian alumni have served in foreign affairs for independent Mongolia since World War II, regardless of its form of government. MGIMO was founded in 1944.

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.