# 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:** 260
### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5245 "2022-04-30T20:01:31Z")
> [@Broomstick](#):
>
> Unlike a human creditor with a human debtor, the US can afford to wait a very long time for repayment.
>
> So far, only four nations have repaid their lend-lease debt from WWI: Finland, Greece, Liberia, and Cuba. Britain, France, and Italy still owe money from The War to End All Wars. Why the hold up?
For an individual, getting out of debt and staying out of debt is a good thing; but apparently the rules are somewhat different for nations. It appears that a certain amount of national debt is actually useful because the outstanding bonds and securities circulate like a sort of nationally issued Bitcoin, enhancing that nation’s financial status. Old war bonds still circulate because people like the dividends from them rather than a final cash settlement.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5246 "2022-04-30T20:15:53Z")
This reminds me of my high school Government class. Something about the federal government taking on the war debts of the states, helping to unify the new country and helping the United States build international credit.
But it’s been way too long for me to remember that. I’ll have to watch Hamilton sometime. I assume it touches on that.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2022, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5247 "2022-04-30T20:42:18Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#):
>
> On a related question how much “real” experience do Russian generals and upper officers have? My sense of history is often terrible-have there been many opportunities for them to see combat?
The Russian forces are known for destroying entire cities with Artillery. They did it in Syria, Chechnya (battle of Grozny) and other conflicts.
AFAIK they haven’t fought artillery battles against equal forces since WWII. It’s a different battle because each side is targeting the others artillery.
Shelling a city that can’t fight back is a lot easier.
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### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5248 "2022-04-30T21:02:44Z")
Interesting. What about the sort of urban warfare the Ukrainian forces are doing?
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5249 "2022-05-01T00:02:08Z")
Where did Russia suddenly get a supply of dollars from?
Russia had some international bond payments that were due this month. They attempted to make the payments using rubles. But they were told that the bonds specified that the payments had to be made in American dollars. If Russia didn’t make the payment in dollars, they would be in default on the loans.
At the last minute, Russia made the payments in dollars. The total amount was over six hundred million dollars.
Russia owns that many dollars. But it’s mostly in frozen accounts. The United States government has issued a statement saying it has not released any Russian accounts.
So where did Russia gets these dollars from? Did it have that many dollars in its own domestic accounts? Or did some other country unfreeze a Russian account? Or was there an under the table transaction where somebody sold dollars to the Russian government for some unspecified assets?
I’ll admit I don’t normally follow the financial news so maybe I’m missing something obvious here.
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### Author:  [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5250 "2022-05-01T00:41:25Z")
Completely WAG, China.
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### Author:  [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5251 "2022-05-01T01:16:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Where did Russia suddenly get a supply of dollars from?
Vlad pulled it out from under his mattress …
> **[Russia aims to avert historic debt default with last-ditch dollar bond payments](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/29/russia-attempts-last-ditch-dollar-bond-payments-to-try-to-avert-historic-default.html)**
>
> Russia's Finance Ministry said Friday that it had attempted overdue dollar payments on its international debt obligations.
> A senior U.S. official said later Friday that Russia had not mobilized money through the U.S. system and the payments involved fresh funds.
> “The main concern was are they going to use funds that were immobilized in the U.S. or use the money they have been using to prop up the ruble and the war effort. It appears it came from that pile of money because we didn’t authorize any transactions involving the immobilized funds in the U.S.,” the official said, according to Reuters.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5252 "2022-05-01T01:17:53Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#):
>
> Completely WAG, China.
That was my guess too.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5253 "2022-05-01T03:31:17Z")
India has increased its purchases of Russian gas and oil also.
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### Author:  [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5254 "2022-05-01T04:10:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Where did Russia suddenly get a supply of dollars from?
A few weeks ago when Russia triggered default on their second set of bond payments, Russia said they can’t pay in USD because their USD accounts are frozen so they wanted to pay in Rubles. The Biden admin’s response was that Russia could use the USD they receive as payment for oil and gas contracts.
Obviously there is as much politics as economics in those statements. I don’t know who is correct and if the payments would cover the bonds. We do know that the oil and gas contracts are primarily specified in USD and EUR.
I think the point might be not to force Russia into default, but to soak up their oil and gas payments so that it can’t be used for the war effort.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5255 "2022-05-01T04:25:51Z")
> [@CaveMike](#):
>
> The Biden admin’s response was that Russia could use the USD they receive as payment for oil and gas contracts… We do know that the oil and gas contracts are primarily specified in USD and EUR.
I thought Russia was insisting on selling its gas and oil for rubles. This props up the value of the ruble (which had been falling) but it limits Russia’s ability to build up foreign currency reserves.
Although I suppose that by insisting on payment in rubles for gas and oil, Russia is creating a secondary demand for rubles. So it can sell rubles first and then get the rubles back when it sells gas and oil.
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### Author:  [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5256 "2022-05-01T04:59:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> I thought Russia was insisting on selling its gas and oil for rubles.
Agreed. Russia must be prioritizing propping the Ruble over the danger of default (or the cost of burning USDs they have squirreled away).
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5257 "2022-05-01T08:22:27Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> So where did Russia gets these dollars from? Did it have that many dollars in its own domestic accounts? Or did some other country unfreeze a Russian account? Or was there an under the table transaction where somebody sold dollars to the Russian government for some unspecified assets?
I’ve heard North Korea does a brisk business in counterfeiting money.
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5258 "2022-05-01T11:52:40Z")
The Russian fascist invaders’ Donbas Offensive appears to have stalled, with little to no territory seized in the past few days.
From [yesterday’s campaign assessment by the Institute for the Study of War](https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-april-30):
> [@](#):
>
> Further Russian reinforcements to the Izyum axis are unlikely to enable stalled Russian forces to achieve substantial advances. Elements of unspecified Eastern Military District units and several air-defense assets are reportedly deploying from Belgorod to the Izyum front to support likely degraded Russian units attempting to advance south of the city. These forces are unlikely to enable Russian forces to break the current deadlock, as Russian attacks remain confined to two major highways (toward Slovyansk and Barvinkove) and cannot leverage greater numbers. Several successful Ukrainian counterattacks out of Kharkiv city in the last 72 hours have additionally recaptured a ring of suburbs north and east of the city and may additionally force Russian forces to redeploy units intended for the Izyum axis to hold these positions. Russian forces appear increasingly unlikely to achieve any major advances in eastern Ukraine, and Ukrainian forces may be able to conduct wider counterattacks in the coming days.
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5259 "2022-05-01T13:12:04Z")
Another dead Russian general:
> **[Tenth Russian General Reportedly Killed in Ukraine - Kyiv Post - Ukraine's...](https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/tenth-russian-general-reportedly-killed-in-ukraine.html)**
>
> Ukrainian authorities say that Russian Maj. Gen. Andrei Simonov was killed near the city of Izyum of the… - May. 01, 2022. By Kyiv Post
More strikes in Russian Belgorod - sounds like an ammo depot:
>
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5260 "2022-05-01T13:22:48Z")
Adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine says that Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov was at the Izyum HQ that was attacked yesterday, in which the Major-General in the previous post was killed:
>
There are indications that there may have been a VIP in Belgorod today:
>
>
> Руслан Левиев @RuslanLeviev
>
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5261 "2022-05-01T14:04:46Z")
>
Avakov’s tweet (via Google Translate):
> [@](#):
>
> 🔥🔥🔥 Our insider reports:
>
> “Valery Gerasimov is wounded in the territory of Ukraine. He received a shrapnel wound to the right shin without a broken bone”
>
> 🙄 What sad news! … could …
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5262 "2022-05-01T14:52:28Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#):
>
> India has increased its purchases of Russian gas and oil also.
That’s disappointing. It puts products made in India in a bad light. I know it’s a poor country but they’re taking advantage of a brutal war for their personal gain.
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5263 "2022-05-01T14:55:28Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#):
>
> There are indications that there may have been a VIP in Belgorod today:
Probably a fresh load of replacement Generals and a return flight of wounded soldiers.
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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5264 "2022-05-01T16:44:36Z")
It’s sounding like the Ukrainians have been getting VERY good advice on how to hit where it hurts. I’m reminded of articles I’ve read about terrorism by engineers who said that if saboteurs knew how to hit infrastructure targets smartly they could inflict stupendous harm.
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