What does “митинг” mean in Russian?

Митинг looks exactly like the English word “meeting,” but in Russian it means something far more specific: a public political rally or street demonstration. For everyday meetings — a work call, a coffee catch-up, a school parents' evening — Russians say встреча or собрание. Митинг belongs to the street: crowds, placards, and a loudspeaker. The word was borrowed from English but immediately narrowed to the political sense.

The clip describes a string of political demonstrations in Berlin — Palestinian rallies drawing tens of thousands, one hitting 100,000, and smaller pro-Israel gatherings. Every time the speaker says митинг, they mean a mass street protest, never a scheduled work meeting. That context makes the false-friend gap hard to miss: a learner who reaches for митинг to describe a team standup will get a very surprised reaction. Borrowed from English “meeting,” the word narrowed in Russian to the political sense — public rallies and demonstrations — rather than spreading to all kinds of gatherings.