# 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:** 217
### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4384 "2022-04-11T16:30:14Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#):
>
> Evil cackling Russian karting racer [makes Nazi salute](https://twitter.com/FreelFreel/status/1513266489410867204) on podium and gets his contract terminated.
He couldn’t look like more of a generic twit if he tried.
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#):
>
> It means almost 30% of the Russian invasion force has been rendered combat ineffective.
Sorry, I was imprecise with my request. I meant about the foreign debt.
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4385 "2022-04-11T16:32:20Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#):
>
> Sorry, I was imprecise with my request. I meant about the foreign debt.
Oh, someone else will have to explain financial stuff.
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### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4386 "2022-04-11T16:32:54Z")
Thank you anyway!
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4387 "2022-04-11T16:48:03Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#):
>
> CNN: Russia has defaulted on its foreign debt, says S&P
We could accept payment in Dollars, Euros, gold, or commercial airliners.
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4388 "2022-04-11T17:29:21Z")
> [@Magiver](#):
>
> We could accept payment in Dollars, Euros, gold, or commercial airliners.
But not commercial airliners that are actually owned by Not\_Russia.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4389 "2022-04-11T17:42:21Z")
The US came within days of defaulting during a budget battle in 2011 or 2012? (gov shutdown). A emergency bill passed a budget for a few weeks. Payment was made. I remember reading some banking org reduced the US lending score. Making it more difficult and expensive to borrow.
Russia should get the same penalty.
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### Author:  [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4390 "2022-04-11T18:06:13Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#):
>
> Evil cackling Russian karting racer [makes Nazi salute](https://twitter.com/FreelFreel/status/1513266489410867204) on podium and gets his contract terminated.
He was competing for Italy because Russia was banned.
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### Author:  [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4391 "2022-04-11T18:07:13Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#):
>
> He couldn’t look like more of a generic twit if he tried.
In a soft voiced protest, I can only say that he’s only 15.
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### Author:  [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4392 "2022-04-11T18:07:56Z")
> [@Magiver](#):
>
> We could accept payment in Dollars, Euros, gold, or commercial airliners.
Russia has announced that it’s tying the ruble to gold, which something, something, is bad for the dollar. Don’t ask me why.
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4393 "2022-04-11T18:13:12Z")
Operation Desertion Storm continues…
Meanwhile, after a brief show of bravery and resolve, the German government appears to be retreating back to its old “naw, I don’t want to be a Nazi by confronting Nazis” ways.
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### Author:  [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4394 "2022-04-11T18:37:24Z")
I think what it means is the following (note all numbers and dates included in this post are entirely made up). 20 years ago Russia sold a bunch IOUs each of which said if you give us a dollar today, in 20 years you can turn in this IOU for two dollars.
Now the people holding those IOU’s are trying to turn them in, but Russia doesn’t have the dollars because all of their bank accounts have been frozen. So Russia says, rather than $2 we’ll give you 160 rubles. But given the current volatility in the exchange rates its going to be hard for the people paid back in rubles to convert those 160 rubles back into dollars.
So the S&P which is a global credit rating agency, declared that Russia was in “selective default” meaning that it can make some of its payments but not all.
As to what this means, for most countries in normal times, being given a bad credit rating has the same effect as an individual being given a bad credit rating. Namely it makes it harder for them to borrow money in the future, either no one will lend to them or will only do so at very high interest rates.
In this case however, it may not have too much of an effect for two reasons. In the first place, there are extenuating circumstances that made it impossible for Ruissia to make its payments, so it doesn’t really represent a fundamental lack of credit worthiness on the part of Russia. But second more improtant reason, it that these extenuating circumstances are due to the fact that Russia is an international pariah. And that status is orders of magnitude more harmful to Russia’s ability to borrow money than are any declarations for S&P.
Its the equivalent of trying to get a home loan and noting that the reason your credit card bill is overdue isn’t because you didn’t have the money but just because you couldn’t get to the bank since you’re on the lam from the police for arson.
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4395 "2022-04-11T20:05:58Z")
>
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4396 "2022-04-11T20:12:56Z")
If - and I mean, if (unlikely) - this finally means real, direct US/NATO intervention, YES.
Not that I’m cheering the death of anyone who died or was sickened by the chemical weapons. But we need something to finally be the last straw to break the NATO-camel back, and this will hopefully be it.
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4397 "2022-04-11T20:27:36Z")
Yep, getting reports of that now - from the symptoms I’m _guessing_ a nerve agent of some sort.
If the West doesn’t step up then Putin’s war will just get worse and worse. But stepping up still carries a risk of greater escalation. I mean, _shit_, I was hoping 2022 would be a better year but it’s starting to stink worse than the two before it.
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### Author:  [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4398 "2022-04-11T20:53:30Z")
The 202x decade is shaping up hopelessly defective. Is it too late to return it for a refund?
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### Author:  [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4399 "2022-04-11T20:54:20Z")
I’m pretty sure we’d need the receipt to even get store credit.
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### Author:  [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4400 "2022-04-11T20:58:27Z")
So who’s got the receipt?
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4401 "2022-04-11T21:00:57Z")
Original packaging will be required.
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### Author:  [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4402 "2022-04-11T21:41:38Z")
> [@Seanette](#):
>
> The 202x decade is shaping up hopelessly defective. Is it too late to return it for a refund?
To dramatize it in my own head, I think of 3/11/2020 as the date that the shit officially hit the fan, even though it was obviously on its way towards the fan before that date.
Apologies for the hijack. Back to your regularly scheduled thread.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2022, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/4403 "2022-04-11T21:49:01Z")
Good luck with that.
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