# Russia invades Ukraine {2022-02-24} (Part 1) **URL:** \ **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:** 305
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6145 "2022-06-09T03:25:19Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I guess collaborators are giving the Russians name of soldiers? Knowing the Russians, they’re just spamming every phone number or contact they can find still in Ukraine. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6146 "2022-06-09T04:21:05Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > they’re just spamming every phone number or contact they can find still in Ukraine. Even worse, they are probably using the phones they stole off the people they killed. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6147 "2022-06-09T04:27:04Z")
Very sad, and very possibly true. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6148 "2022-06-09T05:55:26Z")
I hadn’t considered the contact list on phones. Someone could taunt or threaten everyone on contacts. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6149 "2022-06-09T09:26:21Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > [Russia threatens to wipe out the entire US with just four Satan II missiles in chilling warning over Ukraine](https://www.the-sun.com/news/5460070/russia-threatens-to-hit-us-with-satan-missiles-ukraine/) > > - The politician, Alexie Zhuravlev, was joined on the talk show by fellow MP and Russian-state mouthpiece Yevgeny Popov, the host of the Rossiya 1 channel show. > > - The lawmaker claimed that two of Russia’s [Sarmat ‘Satan 2’ missiles](https://www.the-sun.com/news/5399754/russia-deploy-satan-nukes-test-launch-pics/) would destroy the entirety of America’s east coast - before adding it would take just “two missiles for the west coast” as well. > > So what do the Russians think we would do with 6000 nukes if the US was attacked with nukes? What a toothless threat to make. No, not toothless - mad, foolish, and a lot of other things but not toothless. Nuclear missiles really do exist. Although with the talk of “east coast” and “west coast” is does make me wonder if Putin is aware of the existence of “flyover country”. Not that it would make any difference in a full exchange. You have to wonder what drugs some of these people are taking, that they think the US would sit passively by if nuked. Have they forgotten all the submarines? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6150 "2022-06-09T09:41:53Z")
Well, yes, the US was always going to be the top donor because of the greater wealth and military hardware. A country like Estonia is small, it has fewer people than eight US cities, it just doesn’t have the means to do more. A better comparison might be comparing the US contribution to the total of the European contribution, because then you’re doing more of a continent-to-contient comparison instead of a continent (US) to nation (all the entities in Europe) contribution. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6151 "2022-06-09T09:48:29Z")
If you consider “amount of support as a percentage of GDP,” Estonia and Latvia are blowing everybody else out of the water. > **[Infographic: The Countries Pulling Their Weight in Ukraine Aid](https://www.statista.com/chart/27331/countries-committing-the-most-of-their-gdp-to-ukraine-aid/)** > > This chart shows the countries with the most government support to Ukraine as a share of their own GDP as of October 3, 2022. Germany is doing okay in absolute value, but considered proportionally, they are lagging _way_ behind and should be embarrassed. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6152 "2022-06-09T09:51:49Z")
Nevermind - didn’t see mod note before posting. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6153 "2022-06-09T10:35:23Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > If you consider “amount of support as a percentage of GDP,” Estonia and Latvia are blowing everybody else out of the water. That is true, however, the chart I was commenting on did not present the information in that manner. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6154 "2022-06-09T10:37:50Z")
I know, and I’m sorry if it felt like I was correcting or nagging you specifically. On the general subject, I asked myself, I wonder if anyone has done the math on proportional contributions, and a quick google later I found that page, so I tossed it into the discussion. Your post was just the most recent on the topic and the easiest to reply to. Nothing personal intended. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6155 "2022-06-09T12:14:54Z")
I wasn’t trying to make a point I just thought it was an interesting chart to share. I probably should have looked for and posted a second chart like the excellent one @Cervaise linked to in order to provide a fuller picture. For all the top donors (by GDP) there are definite strategic advantages to helping Ukraine. Obviously for some like Estonia they are geographical and urgent. But you can almost rank strategic importance in the same order as aid by GDP. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6156 "2022-06-09T12:31:38Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > If you consider “amount of support as a percentage of GDP,” Estonia and Latvia are blowing everybody else out of the water. Well, considering the risk countries like Estonia and Latvia experience, their past experience with Russia, the degree of benefit they derive from NATO association, and the relative size of their economies, I’m not sure it is unexpected or even unreasonable that they contribute a higher percentage than Germany. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6157 "2022-06-09T13:39:33Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Well, considering the risk countries like Estonia and Latvia experience, their past experience with Russia, the degree of benefit they derive from NATO association, and the relative size of their economies, I’m not sure it is unexpected or even unreasonable that they contribute a higher percentage than Germany. You could say something similar about 3rd-place Poland. Seeing the US in 4th place on that chart, despite the near-zero direct threat Russia poses to us, sorta makes me proud to be an American. And it’s been a long, long time since I’ve said that. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6158 "2022-06-09T14:08:22Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Although with the talk of “east coast” and “west coast” is does make me wonder if Putin is aware of the existence of “flyover country”. Not that it would make any difference in a full exchange. I suspect that’s part of Putin’s divide and conquer plan for propaganda aimed at Americans. He’s telling the GOP loyalists in the flyover states that he’s “on their side”, in that he’ll only nuke those “coastal elites” who are all pedo-democrats, after all. The more division Putin can engender in the US political sphere, the more likely it is that US support for Ukraine collapses, which is the only realistic way that Russia wins in Ukraine. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6159 "2022-06-09T15:28:04Z")
[https://twitter.com/Andrew\_\_Roth/status/1534896244157554689](https://twitter.com/Andrew__Roth/status/1534896244157554689) [https://twitter.com/Andrew\_\_Roth/status/1534897819382910976](https://twitter.com/Andrew__Roth/status/1534897819382910976) ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6160 "2022-06-09T15:47:25Z")
The Russian leadership is really incompetent, isn’t it. “Ignore our war crimes or … we’ll commit more war crimes.” 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6161 "2022-06-09T15:57:24Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > [https://twitter.com/Andrew\_\_Roth/status/1534897819382910976](https://twitter.com/Andrew__Roth/status/1534897819382910976) RUSSIA: I’m shocked… shocked that you’re using mercenaries! WAGNER GROUP: Your invoice, sir. RUSSIA: Thank you, very much. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6162 "2022-06-09T15:58:19Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > The men fought in Ukrainian marines and should be protected by Geneva conventions. But they have been slandered as “mercenaries” by Russian proxies Gee, sort of like the Wagner Group. Only, y’know - not. Since these were actually volunteers serving in the Ukrainian military not mercenaries. Not that it should be any surprise, but the level of hypocrisy is kinda breathtaking. Just another drop into the endless sea of war crime. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6163 "2022-06-09T16:28:27Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > You could say something similar about 3rd-place Poland. Seeing the US in 4th place on that chart, despite the near-zero direct threat Russia poses to us, sorta makes me proud to be an American. And it’s been a long, long time since I’ve said that. This war is in the perfect sweet spot for US support. The Ukrainians are in a battle to keep their democratic values alive and are fighting against one of America’s strategic enemies. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/6164 "2022-06-09T16:55:42Z")
It’s a rare proxy war when our proxy is facing, not “their” proxy, but “them” directly, without that awkward moral ambiguity of who is responsible for the fight. It’s stupid easy to paint one side the obvious bad guys and strongly support the other as the clear victim. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037.md?page=304) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037.md?page=306)