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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5290 "2022-05-02T01:44:16Z")
Do Ukrainians speak Russian with not enough accent to give them away? If so Russia has a ginormous infiltration problem.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5291 "2022-05-02T02:15:46Z")
Some positive news from this terrible war. It’s remarkable any people are coming out of that steelworks.
This is the first mention of UN vehicles. I guess their part of the negotiated corrider?
> [@](#):
>
> Footage from inside the steelworks showed members of the Azov regiment helping civilians though rubble and onto a bus.
>
> One older evacuee accompanied by young children said survivors were fast running out of food.
>
> “Children always wanted to eat. You know, adults can wait,” she added.
>
> More than 50 civilians arrived at a temporary accommodation centre in Russian-controlled territory on Sunday after escaping from Mariupol, a Reuters photographer said. [read more](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/more-civilians-evacuated-around-azovstal-plant-reuters-photographer-2022-05-01/)
>
> The civilians came on buses in a convoy with U.N. and Russian military vehicles at the village of Bezimenne, around 30 km (18 miles) east of Mariupol, where a row of light blue tents had been set up.
>
> A plan to evacuate civilians from areas of the devastated city outside the steelworks had been postponed to Monday morning, Mariupol’s city council said.
[https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/civilians-evacuated-mariupol-pelosi-meets-ukraines-zelenskiy-2022-05-02/](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/civilians-evacuated-mariupol-pelosi-meets-ukraines-zelenskiy-2022-05-02/)
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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5292 "2022-05-02T02:26:21Z")
Considering previous evacuation agreements violated, deportations, atrocities, and Russia’s open goal of eliminating Ukrainians as a distinct nationality/ethnicity, I would be damned skeptical of any evacuation overseen by Russia.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5293 "2022-05-02T02:36:24Z")
It probably won’t be long before the Ukrainian military starts a counterattack in Mariupol.
At least shell the Russian positions with artillery.
Most of the civilians are gone and the buildings bombed out. There’s no reason not to use Ukrainian artillery. Harass the Russians as much as possible. Make life in Mariupol hell for them.
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### Author:  [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5294 "2022-05-02T03:33:31Z")
Moderating:
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#):
>
> What is wrong with you?
Try not to make things personal.
Not a warning.
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### Author:  [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5295 "2022-05-02T04:21:48Z")
> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> Russian fighter jets have been making threatening moves bordering NATO airspace over the past four days:
That’s been going on sporadically for decades.
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### Author:  [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5296 "2022-05-02T13:47:24Z")
That would work both ways.
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5297 "2022-05-02T13:52:07Z")
Another mysterious fire Russia, this time in Perm, 1000 miles (1500 km) from the Ukrainian border:
[https://twitter.com/TpyxaNews/status/1521113120042885121](https://twitter.com/TpyxaNews/status/1521113120042885121)
According to [Russian state media](https://twitter.com/rianru/status/1521105009676595201):
> [@](#):
>
> In Perm, two people died in an emergency at a gunpowder factory, one victim is in the hospital. The enterprise manufactures charges for Grad and Smerch multiple launch rocket systems and air defense systems
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5298 "2022-05-02T13:55:37Z")
> **[Video shows Ukrainian drone destroying Russian patrol ship off Snake Island,...](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-drones-destroy-russian-patrol-ships-snake-island-defense-ministry-says/)**
>
> Raptor patrol boats, which can carry up to 23 personnel, are usually equipped with machine guns and used in reconnaissance or landing operations.
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### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5299 "2022-05-02T13:58:08Z")
If this is sabotage, I hope they’re trying to ensure as few people are around as possible before setting their explosives.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5300 "2022-05-02T13:58:23Z")
A small fire sounds more like sabotage than missile strikes.
Family ties between Russians and Ukrainians runs deep. There may be some loosely organized resistance along the border.
It could also be accidents from ramping up production. The bosses set unrealistic goals to support the war. Overworked employees make mistakes.
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5301 "2022-05-02T14:02:56Z")
Just wondering - whole these fires SOUND bad - is there a way to compare them to NORMAL occurrences? Is it clear that these fires and such clearly statistically exceed normal?
Just want to make sure we aren’t attributing some Russian official’s heart attack in Kamchatka to Ukrainian assassination squads! 😉
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5302 "2022-05-02T14:08:55Z")
Yes, there’s always the possibility of random fires. Except the reported ones are all in buildings that have some connection to the Russian military.
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### Author:  [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5303 "2022-05-02T14:10:42Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> the reported ones
Which may be significant, or may be selection bias – they’re just ordinary fires that happen to be newsworthy because they look like sabotage or other anti-invasion resistance.
It’s impossible to be sure. If corruption has gutted industrial safety and quality like it did the armed forces, perhaps every factory is a disaster waiting to spontaneously happen.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5304 "2022-05-02T14:15:07Z")
Information from Wikipedia on the Raptor patrol boats:
> Class overview
> Name Patrol boats of the project 03160 “Raptor”
> Builders JSC “LSZ” [Pella](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pella_(plant)&action=edit&redlink=1)
> Operators [Russian Navy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Navy)
> Built 2013 - present
> In service Since 2015
> In commission Since 2014
> Planned 24
> Completed 17
> Active 14 (9 [Baltic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Fleet), 3-4 [Black Sea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea_Fleet), 1 [Caspian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_Flotilla))[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor-class_patrol_boat#cite_note-1)
> Lost 3[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor-class_patrol_boat#cite_note-sunkmarch-2)[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor-class_patrol_boat#cite_note-sunkmay-3)
Fourteen boats active, three or four in the Black Sea. Per the first footnote [2] where it says ‘Lost’, one of those was damaged on 21 March 2022 and was being towed to a Russian port. The second footnote there [3] reports the two that were just destroyed. So the Russians are down to one or two of those in the Black Sea.
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