$query->matching(
    $query->logicalAnd(
        [
            // the following 4 lines are the problem lines
            $query->logicalAnd(
                $query->in('categories.uid', $categories),
                $query->in('categories.uid', $countryCategories)
            ),
            // $query->in('categories.uid', $categories),
            // $query->in('categories.uid', $countryCategories),

            $query->logicalOr(
                [
                    $query->equals('is_pinned', 0),
                    $query->lessThan('pinned_until', time())
                ]
            ),
        ]
    )
);