# Russia invades Ukraine {2022-02-24} (Part 1)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Tags:** ukraine-invasion, breaking-news
**Created:** [February 24, 2022, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037 "2022-02-24T08:30:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 179
### Author:  [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3561 "2022-03-29T07:41:15Z")
[ ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FO_nUQiX0AUea7Q?format=jpg&name=small)
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3562 "2022-03-29T09:46:06Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#):
>
> At this point I’m not sure Putin will feel like he won until he’s covered the earth in a second darkness.
Taking a page out of the Sherwin-Williams playbook?
> **[Sherwin-Williams Triumphantly Reports Nearly Half The Planet Covered In Paint](https://www.theonion.com/sherwin-williams-triumphantly-reports-nearly-half-the-p-1819566493)**
>
> CLEVELAND— Sherwin-Williams officials announced Monday that the company is nearing the midpoint of its 112-year project to cover the Earth in a coat of bright red paint. "We're proud to announce that the entire Northern Hemisphere should be slathered...
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### Author:  [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3563 "2022-03-29T10:09:58Z")
I was actually referencing a slightly darker character. But it still works for S-W.
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### Author:  [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3564 "2022-03-29T11:00:46Z")
Confuse the hell out of the Russians: release 99 red balloons in Kiev:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiwgOWo7mDc)
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### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3565 "2022-03-29T11:08:03Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> For a former actor & comedian
Hey, when you’re a working comedian and actor and you have a gig you make the most of it. It’s a rough life.
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3566 "2022-03-29T11:20:32Z")
Volodymyr Zelenskyy may be the most extreme example of “fake it 'til you make it” and becoming the role the actor plays.
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### Author:  [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3567 "2022-03-29T11:46:12Z")
It’s like Julia Louis-Dreyfus really becoming President of the US.
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### Author:  [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3568 "2022-03-29T12:59:07Z")
Give it time…
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### Author:  [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3569 "2022-03-29T13:10:07Z")
> **[Russia Finally Rules Out Using Nuclear Weapons Over Ukraine War](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-peskov-putin-nuclear-weapons-biden-1692753)**
>
> Russia has around 6,000 nuclear warheads and its nuclear doctrine does not require an adversary to use such weapons first.
They probably did an audit and realized they are not working properly. 🙂
It is going to be a really rough week for the Russian military. Cold and rainy in Ukraine this week. So more hits to the morale. Probably some cases of frostbite. There was a report of some troopers fragging their commander (he survived initially but died later). So if there’s a report of it, there’s probably quite a bit more going on unreported. It might be a bad week to be a troop commander in the Russian army.
Overall, as I stated a couple of weeks back, the ground war is effectively over. Russia cannot win. They have no further assets they can safely commit to the war, and the units they have in place are spent. All the Russian army can do now is bleed, and it is a question as to how much they are going to bleed before they get out of Ukraine. I read that some units have already been withdrawing to Belarus.
Crimea should be interesting. Whether Ukraine can take back Crimea is going to mainly be a question as to whether the people of Crimea legitimately want to be in Russia or Ukraine. If they have the support of the populace, then it should be reclaimable. However, if they are not coming in seen as liberators, then they should stay out. Russia made a terrible mistake. Ukraine should not repeat it.
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### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3570 "2022-03-29T13:26:12Z")
As a small aside, comedians, especially ones that specialize in political observation, are generally extremely intelligent and quick-witted. Mark Russell and Al Franken spring to mind.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy may have been making a living as a comedian and actor, but he is also a trained lawyer.
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3571 "2022-03-29T13:53:11Z")
Having had their asses kicked for the past few days, forcing them to retreat around Kyiv and Chernihiv with heavy casualties, Russia has decided to “radically reduce” Russia’s military activity around the two cities in order to “increase mutual trust” and help lead to further negotiations and achieving the “ultimate goal” of a signed agreement between the two sides:
> [@](#):
>
> Due to the fact that negotiations over an agreement on Ukraine’s neutrality and non-nuclear status and security guarantees (for Ukraine) are moving into a practical stage, and taking into consideration the principles discussed during today’s meeting, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has taken the decision to drastically reduce combat operations in the Kyiv and Chernihiv areas in order to boost mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and for the signing of the aforementioned agreement.
- [Alexander Fomin, Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-60890199?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=6242fcbf1fea84616a6cd1e7%26In%20full%3A%20What%20Russia%27s%20deputy%20defence%20minister%20said%262022-03-29T12%3A41%3A20.510Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:424ccfe3-ebfd-4819-b00e-d07b44068ed8&pinned_post_asset_id=6242fcbf1fea84616a6cd1e7&pinned_post_type=share)
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### Author:  [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3572 "2022-03-29T13:57:19Z")
Guardian live feed:
> **Russia’s defence ministry said Russia will “drastically reduce” military activity outside Kyiv and Chernihiv.**
>
> Speaking on television after talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiating teams in Istanbul, Russia’s deputy defence minister said Moscow has decided to “fundamentally cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv” in order to “increase mutual trust for future negotiations to agree and sign a peace deal with Ukraine.”
Translated: They’ve been forced to drastically cut back military activity outside Kyiv and Chernihiv because they’ve run out of resources and they’re losing.
If this was only about negotiations, they would be piling on the pressure to get more leverage. The negotiations are an excuse.
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### Author:  [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3573 "2022-03-29T13:57:34Z")
> [@Broomstick](#):
>
> If you don’t have any knowledge of the history of the region then you really shouldn’t be throwing out speculations like that. Just MHO.
Sorry; my understanding was this is a message board, where we can throw out suggestions and such for conversation. Didn’t realize I had to have specific qualifications to suggest a possible diplomatic solution to the conflict on the SDMB.
However …
> The problem is that that cuts Ukraine off from the sea, making it a land-locked country, which makes taking their grain to global markets that much more difficult.
Apparently I at least have a geographic understanding of the area. And I’m astute enough to know that
> I’d say roll the Russians back to their 1991 borders and tell them to go f\*\*\* themselves
isn’t exactly a viable negotiation ploy.
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### Author:  [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3574 "2022-03-29T14:11:24Z")
From [Illia Ponomarenko](https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko):
> Russia says “military activities in the Kyiv and Chernihiv areas will be reduced for the sake of mutual trust”.
>
> Interpreting this for you guys into the human language: “We have been smashed in the face, so we need to buy some time to redeploy troops to Izium and Donbas.”
> I don’t know if Russians are really withdrawing troops from Kyiv, but what I know for sure is that Ukraine continues engaging them northwest of Kyiv.
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### Author:  [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3575 "2022-03-29T14:20:49Z")
From [Nexta TV](https://twitter.com/nexta_tv):
> **Hackers destroyed Rosaviation data**
>
> As a result of a cyber attack on the infrastructure of the Federal Air Transport Agency, all documents, files, aircraft registration data and mail were deleted from its servers. About 65 terabytes of data were erased.
>
> The authorities are looking for a backup copy. The Aviation Herald writes that there is no backup copy of this data - the Russian Ministry of Finance has not allocated funds for it. The department was even forced to switch to a paper document flow.
What serious government agency doesn’t keep backups?
Apparently backups cost too much… how much does losing 65 TB of data cost? 😄
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3576 "2022-03-29T14:22:57Z")
>
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### Author:  [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3577 "2022-03-29T14:25:17Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#):
>
> Russia has decided to “radically reduce” Russia’s military activity around the two cities in order to “increase mutual trust” and help lead to further negotiations and achieving the “ultimate goal” of a signed agreement between the two sides:
Also known as
“Run away!! Run away!!!”
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3578 "2022-03-29T14:30:07Z")
> [@Sauron](#):
>
> Sorry; my understanding was this is a message board, where we can throw out suggestions and such for conversation. Didn’t realize I had to have specific qualifications to suggest a possible diplomatic solution to the conflict on the SDMB.
If you hit a Wikipedia article it would provide sufficient background. It’s not like you need a degree in a topic.
> [@Sauron](#):
>
> > ` I’d say roll the Russians back to their 1991 borders and tell them to go f*** themselves`
>
> isn’t exactly a viable negotiation ploy.
I’m not an official negotiator, I don’t have to be tactful.
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### Author:  [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3579 "2022-03-29T14:31:06Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#):
>
> [https://twitter.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1508792929917222916](https://twitter.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1508792929917222916)
Translation:
Please don’t have any weapons in Ukraine so our next invasion will work. K thanks.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/3580 "2022-03-29T14:33:11Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#):
>
> What serious government agency doesn’t keep backups?
I know, right? I run a very small photography business here, and everything is backed up twice. And I have more than 63 TB worth of hard drives. You can get that much magnetic hard drive space for about a grand these days. (Though government backup servers would probably use a different medium, I presume? That would be like $50K worth of tape drives. But, still, if you wanted to cheap out, you can do it for a grand or two.)
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