# 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:** 50
**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:** [March 3, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/981 "2022-03-03T16:57:55Z")
they are not really dead … they just became part of the sunflower growth cycle ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/982 "2022-03-03T17:00:09Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > At this point I strongly believe that the death of Zelensky would galvanize resistance, and he would become a martyr and rallying cry. Martyrs can’t lead, though. If this results in confusion and a lack of active direction it could badly hurt Ukraine. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/983 "2022-03-03T17:01:25Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Putin is doubling down and F\*\*\* the sanctions. There’s been concern this might happen. > > > [@](#): > > > > ## Putin tells Macron the ‘worst is still to come’ in Ukraine > > > > > **Vladimir Putin has told Emmanuel Macron that Kyiv’s “refusal to accept Russia’s conditions” means “the worst is still to come” in [Ukraine](https://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine), saying Moscow was aiming to take “full control” by diplomatic or military means, according to the Elysée.** If true, that’s probably the best news out of Russia so far for Ukraine. He’s committing to overextending. It might not be good news, but the best among bad. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/984 "2022-03-03T17:01:47Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Vladimir Putin has told Emmanuel Macron that Kyiv’s “refusal to accept Russia’s conditions” means “the worst is still to come” in [Ukraine](https://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine), saying Moscow was aiming to take “full control” by diplomatic or military means, according to the Elysée. The Western world simply cannot accept this, ever. Whether we fight directly or indirectly, this is just not tolerable. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/985 "2022-03-03T17:04:20Z")
Where’s the news in that headline? His threats basically amount to “or else…” or “just you wait and see”. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/986 "2022-03-03T17:04:55Z")
French President Macron seems to be the only Western leader with direct access to Putin. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/987 "2022-03-03T17:07:38Z")
I wouldn’t say that only Macron is talking is a bad thing, though. Less possibility of a convenient “misunderstanding” than if four or five heads of government were talking to Putin. I doubt he’s saying anything the rest of the EU or NATO would disagree with. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2022, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/988 "2022-03-03T17:07:48Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > But wouldn’t that just let Putin regroup, re-arm and launch a better-prepared invasion in a year or two? not if europe/usa signs a defense agreement with western ukr. and arm/train them to the hilt ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/989 "2022-03-03T17:11:09Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > French President Macron seems to be the only Western leader with direct access to Putin. He just lost a game of eeny meeny miny moe with Biden, Johnson, and Scholz. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2022, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/990 "2022-03-03T17:15:03Z")
I am no pilot by any means, but as I understand it, the A-10 is highly vulnerable to SAMs and the convoy has lots of SAMs. And even if “pilot training is minimal,” this is a war that’s going to end in weeks and that convoy had to be hit yesterday. Transferring A-10s right now won’t save Kyiv from the convoy. What I do wonder, though, is that the U.S. has been known to fly some Fulcrums (bought from Moldova) at its bases in Nevada, for aggressor training. Could the U.S. donate those Fulcrums to Ukraine right now? I believe it was 8 or 12 Fulcrums. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/991 "2022-03-03T17:20:55Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > After I saw that clip the first time, I was confused about the sunflowers so pulled up google. I typed “su” and auto fill took over from there with the first listing about them being Ukraine’s national flower. That tells me that a whole bunch of other folks also wanted to know what was going on. Yep, that area is known for its sunflowers; Hungary as well and probably other countries in the region. In fact, my daily cooking oil is sunflower oil and it’s made 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:** [March 3, 2022, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/992 "2022-03-03T17:24:06Z")
I’m a gardener. I look up flowers and such all the time. I KNOW I looked at African Sunflowers a couple of weeks ago because I want to try them again this year. I was actually expecting my last five or six sunflower searches to come up before anything pertaining to the war, so was surprised at the search engines response. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/993 "2022-03-03T17:24:53Z")
Man, that image of the bogged down convoy is like food porn to military enthusiasts. I hate to think of what fantasies they entertain when stuck in a traffic jam. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/994 "2022-03-03T17:25:49Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Transferring A-10s right now won’t save Kyiv from the convoy. You mean the convoy that hasn’t been able to move forward for nearly four days now, and is taking heavy losses from Ukrainian attacks? 🙂 Kyiv is already saved from the convoy. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/995 "2022-03-03T17:28:18Z")
In the CSIS video upthread, Eliot Cohen suggests that we should stop calling it a convoy and start calling it what it is: a traffic jam. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/996 "2022-03-03T17:30:00Z")
So, yesterday I was driving to work and was stopped by some jackass that pulled halfway into the road. When I finally got a look, the left front tire was shredded in such a way that I’m not sure how it was on at all, as it was completely unseated from the rim and flopping around at an angle. I can’t even figure out how it happened or why the owner thought it was a good idea to even try to drive on it, since it was probably destroying the wheel entirely. Anyway, that’s about my mental picture of what that northern column must be looking like by now. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2022, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/997 "2022-03-03T17:31:28Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > but I’m not sure we can assume an Iraq/Afghanistan level of insurgency. of course my opinion is just as good as yours - but I see the ukr. as way more committed to stickin it to the man … as iraquis, etc… plus, those Uks. seem to weigh on avg. 30kg more than your iraqui … so they cover both the “ **I wan** t AND **I am able to** ” dimensions of insurgency ---
**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:** [March 3, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/998 "2022-03-03T17:33:04Z")
Suggestion/question: If Ukraine is still capable of hitting the convoy with its jets, then would donated CBU-105s do the job? Those bombs only need to be dropped in the vicinity, right, no further guidance or input from the pilot needed? If I’m not mistaken, dropping them from, say, 5,000 feet or so would typically get dozens of hits per bomb, with most of the smart-skeets finding a target vehicle and hitting it. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2022, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/999 "2022-03-03T17:38:37Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It probably wouldn’t be too hard for Ukrainian pilots to learn to fly the A-10. But I would expect weeks of training, time that I don’t think Ukraine has. I think it might be better for other countries to supply more Su-25s. add on Q: what is the typical pilot to plane ratio for those type of combat vehicle? (iow: if you have 100 A-10s - how many certified pilots would you have?) … also, I am sure you’d find lots of skilled ex-pilots in Ukr. that you could upskill … obv. focussing on ex air-force staff … there should be a few 100s around, right? I agree you’d not want to withdraw actively flying pilots for obv. reason ---
**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:** [March 3, 2022, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/1000 "2022-03-03T17:44:54Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Martyrs can’t lead, though. If this results in confusion and a lack of active direction it could badly hurt Ukraine. I thinks Zelensky is smart enough to let the others do the leading … I am pretty sure he knows that he is imensely important as an **identification and crystalization figure** , but my guess is that he (rightfully) handed over most of the country to his military leaders. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037.md?page=49) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037.md?page=51)