### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3341 "2022-03-25T16:15:21Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#):
>
> Again, Ukraine’s tank numbers grow through capturing enemy tanks.
Here’s my idea…
Send a special forces unit and some pilots to an Russian airfield. Cut the fence at midnight, kill any guards, and fly away with 6 MiGs.
The Russians have been so incompetent that the airfields are probably lightly guarded.
---
### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3342 "2022-03-25T16:52:36Z")
[ ](https://media.snopes.com/2022/03/croatian-tractor.jpg)
(The photo is actually real, but [it’s not from Ukraine](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ukraine-tractor-towing-russian-jet/).)
---
### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3343 "2022-03-25T16:55:59Z")
>
I’m wondering whether the Russian Ministry of Defence divides casualty figures by ten.
---
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3344 "2022-03-25T16:56:58Z")
Hmm, 🤔 I suspect there’s more too this story. Maybe a missile lock warning on the plane?
Guardian blog
> [@](#):
>
> The careful choreography of the US president **Joe Biden** ’s visit to Poland has been disrupted by news that the plane taking the Polish president, **Andrzej Duda** , to meet him in the east of the country has had to return to Warsaw and make an emergency landing. According to statements by Duda’s adviser Jakub Kumoch to the news agency PAP, the president did not face any danger.
---
### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3345 "2022-03-25T17:17:07Z")
[Higher-definition view](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOtWkcgWUAQoQc7?format=jpg&name=4096x4096) of aftermath of Berdyansk strike. (The rail tracks are a bit more visible).
---
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3346 "2022-03-25T17:23:03Z")
[ ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOtN8lkXIAs3tqY?format=png&name=small)
---
### Author:  [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3347 "2022-03-25T17:25:18Z")
So the Russians have announced the end of the “first phase” of its “special military operation” declaring it a success and they will now be concentrating on securing Donbas. We don’t know the exact goals but if they are saying they were successful I assume their goals were to degrade their own army, boost Ukrainian nationalism, wreck the Russian economy, unite NATO, and inflict untold human suffering.
Also the Russian’s have finally updated their official casualty numbers:
1,351 killed and 3,825 wounded.
---
### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3348 "2022-03-25T17:37:03Z")
[https://twitter.com/dansabbagh/status/1507372696908308495](https://twitter.com/dansabbagh/status/1507372696908308495)
[https://twitter.com/dansabbagh/status/1507373566806876160](https://twitter.com/dansabbagh/status/1507373566806876160)
---
### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3349 "2022-03-25T18:21:48Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#):
>
> Also the Russian’s have finally updated their official casualty numbers:
>
> 1,351 killed and 3,825 wounded.
By what factor are we supposed to multiply that? 5? 10? 15?
---
### Author:  [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3350 "2022-03-25T18:25:41Z")
I’m gonna guess by 10. It might provide some insight into the ratio of wounded vs killed I suppose.
---
### Author:  [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3351 "2022-03-25T18:28:18Z")
If we can trust their report to get that ratio anywhere near right. Considering what they call “success”, I have even less faith in what comes from the Kremlin than I did during the Cold War.
---
### Author:  [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3352 "2022-03-25T18:29:49Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#):
>
> So the Russians have announced the end of the “first phase” of its “special military operation” declaring it a success and they will now be concentrating on securing Donbas.
Let’s tell them to feel free to skip the second phase while declaring it a success and move ahead to phase three which is retreating back to Russia with their tail between their legs.
---
### Author:  [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3353 "2022-03-25T18:34:46Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#):
>
> [https://twitter.com/dansabbagh/status/1507372696908308495](https://twitter.com/dansabbagh/status/1507372696908308495)
You have to give the Russian troops points for style on this one: the Colonel was run over _by **a tank** _. I wonder if they got their point across.
---
### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3354 "2022-03-25T18:40:09Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> Hmm, 🤔 I suspect there’s more too this story. Maybe a missile lock warning on the plane?
>
> Guardian blog
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > The careful choreography of the US president **Joe Biden** ’s visit to Poland has been disrupted by news that the plane taking the Polish president, **Andrzej Duda** , to meet him in the east of the country has had to return to Warsaw and make an emergency landing. According to statements by Duda’s adviser Jakub Kumoch to the news agency PAP, the president did not face any danger.
Poland lost its president and many other ranking government officials in a plane crash in 2010 - in Russia of all places. Any sign that a plane isn’t functioning perfectly is probably reason enough for the Poles to return to base.
---
### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3355 "2022-03-25T18:40:14Z")
> [@eschereal](#):
>
> You have to give the Russian troops points for style on this one: the Colonel was run over _by **a tank** _ . I wonder if they got their point across.
His brigade was probably out of bullets and the locals wouldn’t lend them any molotov cocktails, they probably had to make do with what they had. The tank.
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> Poland lost its president and many other ranking government officials in a plane crash in 2010 - in Russia of all places. Any sign that a plane isn’t functioning perfectly is probably reason enough for the Poles to return to base.
“Not functioning properly” is often a good reason for _any_ aircraft to land as soon as practical, regardless of who is or isn’t on board. Speaking as a pilot who has had her share of butt-clenching moments in aviation.
---
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3356 "2022-03-25T18:42:54Z")
> [@eschereal](#):
>
> the Colonel was run over _by **a tank** _.
The one with the sign on the back that says **Студент-водитель**?
---
### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3357 "2022-03-25T18:43:41Z")
> [@Broomstick](#):
>
> “Not functioning properly” is often a good reason for _any_ aircraft to land as soon as practical, regardless of who is or isn’t on board.
I said “perfectly”.
---
### Author:  [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3358 "2022-03-25T18:55:10Z")
Here is the full English transcript of the Russian military briefing outlining the second phase of their “operation”:
[https://eng.mil.ru/en/special\_operation/news/more.htm?id=12414735@egNews](https://eng.mil.ru/en/special_operation/news/more.htm?id=12414735@egNews)
Talking about the operation they said:
> There were two possible courses of action.
>
> The first is to limit the territory to only the DPR and the LPR within the administrative borders of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, which is enshrined in the constitutions of the republics. But then we would be faced with constant feeding by the Ukrainian authorities of the grouping involved in the so-called joint force operation.
>
> Therefore, the second option was chosen, which provides for actions throughout the territory of Ukraine with the implementation of measures for its demilitarization and denazification.
>
> The course of the operation confirmed the validity of this decision.
>
> It is conducted by the General Staff in strict accordance with the approved plan.
>
> The tasks are carried out taking into account minimizing losses among personnel and minimizing damage to civilians.
>
> With the beginning of a special military operation, air supremacy was won during the first two days.
Utter horseshit.
---
### Author:  [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3359 "2022-03-25T19:02:12Z")
This just shows that sanctions should be continued, and toughened wherever possible. We should prepare for maximum sanctions for years. Get Europe off of Russian energy. Seal any leaks in the sanctions. Keep going after the assets of the oligarchs anywhere in the world. Hard. Re-arm Ukraine with the latest in defensive equipment. Send trainers to teach them special forces techniqes. Rebuild the ruined cities and infrastructure of Ukraine. Give them prosperity while Russia sinks back into the bread lineups.
---
### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2022, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3360 "2022-03-25T19:04:44Z")
>
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