# 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:** 368
**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:** [August 27, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7405 "2022-08-27T18:45:25Z")
Scratch one collaborator. “Askyar Laishev, a former Ukrainian internal security service officer who defected to the Moscow-backed Luhansk People’s Republic.” He would have known a lot of local names that the Russians wanted eliminated. He had held the position of Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Luhansk People’s Republic. A nice perk for switching sides. > **[Ukrainian 'traitor' blown up in a car bomb attack in Luhansk region](https://euroweeklynews.com/2022/08/27/ukrainian-traitor-blown-up-in-a-car-bomb-attack-in-luhansk-region/)** > > An official who had been branded a Ukrainian 'traitor' was blown up in a car bomb attack in the Luhansk region two weeks ago ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2022, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7406 "2022-08-27T18:49:15Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > He would have known a lot of local names that the Russians wanted eliminated. He defected in 2014, so probably would have already shared all of his information. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7407 "2022-08-27T19:33:27Z")
Bad shot? Or prankster? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vaFJoOBTdgM/maxresdefault.jpg "Modified Ukrainian drone drops a grenade on sleeping Russian soldier") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaFJoOBTdgM) ---
**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:** [August 27, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7408 "2022-08-27T19:35:16Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I think it would be funny if the Russian hacker division turns out to be as obsolete and hapless as the regular military… Bellingcat investigators this week exposed a deep-cover Russian spy. They were helped by a fatal flaw in Russia’s spycraft - the passport numbers of the fake passports that their spies were given used consecutive numbers, sharing the same first six digits (out of the nine-digit code). > [@](#): > > The investigation had blown the lid on a glaring hole in the GRU’s tradecraft: for nearly a decade, the GRU had furnished their spies with consecutively numbered passports, allowing investigative journalists to uncover other spies by simply tracing such batches of numbers. Bellingcat: > Eliot Higgins, Bellingcat: > Christo Grozev, Bellingcat: > > > Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7409 "2022-08-27T20:01:54Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Bad shot? Or prankster? regardless, the Russian left his rifle behind. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7410 "2022-08-27T20:15:47Z")
He sure left in a hurry! Maybe he remembered an appointment. 😃 It’s surprising he survived. He’s going to have some 'splainin to do about the missing rifle. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7411 "2022-08-27T20:30:13Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > It’s surprising he survived. He was in a ditch, and the shrapnel went over him. Might have some hearing damage, and he may need to change his fatigue pants. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2022, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7412 "2022-08-27T20:37:53Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > [https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/1563060250269589505](https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/1563060250269589505) Jiminy Cricket, don’t the Russians know that the best lies are the _simple_ ones? ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2022, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7413 "2022-08-27T23:51:04Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > They were helped by a fatal flaw in Russia’s spycraft - the passport numbers of the fake passports that their spies were given used consecutive numbers, sharing the same first six digits (out of the nine-digit code). CIA did the same thing essentially with credit cards when they extracted a Muslim cleric. > **[Ex-CIA Officer In Rendition Case Is Released After Italy Grants Partial Clemency](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/01/517916196/italy-grants-partial-clemency-to-ex-cia-officer-over-extraordinary-rendition)** > > Sabrina De Sousa is one of 26 Americans convicted in absentia by an Italian court over the 2003 kidnapping of a Muslim cleric. She has been released from custody in Portugal. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2022, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7414 "2022-08-28T15:23:19Z")
[Here’s a link to the same story in case you might not like Twitter.](https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2022/08/25/socialite-widow-jeweller-spy-how-a-gru-agent-charmed-her-way-into-nato-circles-in-italy/). No offense, @Walken_After_Midnight ---
**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:** [August 28, 2022, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7415 "2022-08-28T21:51:09Z")
I’m surprised it took this long. I remember the men in the Crimea take over with military haircuts and regular clothes. It was widely felt they were Russian military. I had to Google Schengen. That’s a big part of Europe with open travel borders. It includes Poland. There no easy way to track people’s movements. Cite [Schengen Area - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area) Guardian live blog > [@](#): > > ## EU set to suspend visa travel agreement with Russia: Financial Times > > The Financial Times is reporting that the EU is [set to suspend its visa travel agreement with Russia](https://www.ft.com/content/857fbd33-506f-4429-989a-6482805bfc62) this week. > > The plan to freeze the 2007 deal will make it harder and more expensive for Russians to get Schengen-area documents, the FT reports. > > It comes after some eastern member states threatened to unilaterally close their borders to Russian tourists, with other countries calling for collective action to stop ordinary Russians from travelling to the EU on tourist visas. Ukraine’s president [Volodymyr Zelenskiy](https://www.theguardian.com/world/volodymyr-zelenskiy) has previously called for a complete ban. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7416 "2022-08-29T11:25:43Z")
seems to be a crucial moment: _Odeska Regional Administration: “It’s Official: The Battle for Kherson Has Begun.”_ (pre-emptying the arrival of the “new, whiter-than-white 3rd russian army”, it seems) HISTORY IN THE MAKING! ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7417 "2022-08-29T12:37:26Z")
[Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 on Twitter: “Let’s be careful about the reported Ukrainian breakthrough in Kherson Oblast. Fighting has indeed been hard and Ukrainian artillery worked all night long. Let’s see what comes next before we start expecting something really HUGE. https://t.co/HtPUek8pLL” / Twitter](https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1564192073506586624) Rumors are starting to trickle in about activity on the ground near Kherson. Reportedly, The Russians’ outer defense ring was broken through at least at one point. HIMARS have shifted from striking fuel and ammo depots in the rear and are now striking ground targets nearer to the front. This suggests this might be the start of what we’ve been waiting for. This is all unconfirmed at this point, but if Ukraine is to launch a large counterattack towards Kherson this would appear to be the time to do so before Rasputitsa mud hits and winter follows. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2022, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7418 "2022-08-29T12:56:50Z")
The fresh Ukrainian troops trained in Britain should be a big part of any counter offensive. No one knows how many. Britain and NATO partners have been training men all summer. I hope Ukraine is prepared if a lot of Russian troops give up. Reports say their supplies are low and their commanders moved HQ across the river. Morale should be pretty low. That’s the best possible scenario for Ukraine. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7419 "2022-08-29T14:22:05Z")
The absolute worst case would be Russian troops fighting to the last man inside Khershon City. The next few weeks are going to be critical in this war. So much depends on how strongly the Russians defend their lines. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2022, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7420 "2022-08-29T16:05:32Z")
I admire these peoples determination to rebuild. It has to be an agonizing decision. Start now or wait for the end of the war? Cite [‘I call it the doghouse’: slow progress on rebuilding ruined homes near Kyiv | Ukraine | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/29/i-call-it-the-doghouse-slow-progress-on-rebuilding-ruined-homes-near-kyiv) > [@](#): > > Five months after the Russians were forced out of the towns and villages north-west of Kyiv, it is clear that reconstruction and recovery is at best slow and at worst nonexistent. > > A few miles away near Bucha, a digger from the local mayor’s office is clearing the site of Tetiana’s lakeside dacha. It has been a long wait for the 55-year-old but she is finally able to see progress. > > “At least I’ll get a new house,” she says as her husband, Valery, shovels some of the last of the rubble of their flattened property into the loader. Soon their property of 20 years will be cleared down to its foundations so it can be rebuilt. > > The couple had thought they would be safe outside the capital, but the Russians arrived shortly after the war began. Their garage was destroyed in early March, and after that the couple left with Tetiana’s mother and a family dog, meaning they avoided the missile strike on their home on 25 March. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7421 "2022-08-29T20:33:52Z")
> > Darth Putin, KGB: > ---
**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:** [August 30, 2022, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7422 "2022-08-30T06:21:12Z")
The sound of gunfire and explosions can be heard in the city of Kherson this morning. > [https://twitter.com/OhVerSeeEr/status/1564494499530817541](https://twitter.com/OhVerSeeEr/status/1564494499530817541) > ---
**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:** [August 30, 2022, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7423 "2022-08-30T07:22:59Z")
It seems most likely partisans and/or special forces. I don’t think regular Ukrainian forces are that close to the city. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/7424 "2022-08-30T07:40:35Z")
Wonder if America could just let Ukrainian personnel fly Reapers (in Ukrainian airspace) from the usual drone-control stations in Nevada, so that technically it’s Ukraine doing the flying, but the U.S. techs are right there to guide and troubleshoot as need be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037.md?page=367) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037.md?page=369)