# Russia invades Ukraine {2022-02-24} (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** ukraine-invasion, breaking-news\ **Created:** [October 29, 2022, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972 "2022-10-29T17:49:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 136
**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:** [March 7, 2023, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2755 "2023-03-07T22:18:40Z")
Various _compromising_ positions? ---
**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 8, 2023, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2756 "2023-03-08T01:09:22Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Wow, those inflatable decoys are way cool. I bet you’d have to be within 50 meters or less to tell for sure they’re not the real deal. I wonder how much those cost? I have no insider knowledge, but I’d be surprised if they were waaaay more expensive like your avg. kids-birthday-jumpy-castle-thingy … same technology, same raw-materials, there are printers for those kinds of canvas - so you don’t even have to get creative … WAG: $2-5k (kid’s castles are between 0.7-1.2k) - unless of course they go hog-wild with “_the military has lots of money, let’s add a 1000% surcharge_” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2757 "2023-03-08T01:19:28Z")
It’s the radar reflectors and all the other “reverse stealth” shit that gets expensive. ---
**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 8, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2758 "2023-03-08T01:19:48Z")
there seems to have been a fairly big booom about 120km behind the frontline in RU occupied Berdyansk > **[r/ukraine - Headquarters of Russian troops has just exploded in Berdyansk. 7...](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/11l767z/headquarters_of_russian_troops_has_just_exploded/)** > > 18,703 votes and 901 comments so far on Reddit (unconfirmed!) word is it was a biiiig JDAMs (an old dumb bomb converted to a smart bomb by added control surfaces and GPS guidance) … possibly a 500+kg ordnance … more details prob. tomorrow … but it seems they hit a headquarter and took out an awful lot of middle and upper brass. also lots of talk that the JDAMS could become the same game-changer for UKR as the Himars were 6 months back … def. a force-multiplier ---
**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 8, 2023, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2759 "2023-03-08T01:22:48Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It’s the radar reflectors and all the other “reverse stealth” shit that gets expensive. again, I have no special knowledge … but radar reflectors could be as easy as aluminum foil applied to the inside of the “inflatable” … Radar sees a ping-back, but would not know what material it came from nor how thick the material is (at least thats my understanding) … and the mentioned heat-source is probably the 2kw diesel-generator that will sit right there to create the 220v AC for the blower to keep the castle up ---
**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 8, 2023, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2760 "2023-03-08T01:52:02Z")
speaking of which … > **[Winged JDAM Smart Bombs Are Now Operational In Ukraine](https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/winged-jdam-smart-bombs-are-now-operational-in-ukraine)** > > The U.S. Air Force's top officer in Europe says JDAM-ERs are now in Ukrainian hands, putting whole new Russian target sets at risk. . > ---
**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 8, 2023, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2761 "2023-03-08T01:57:20Z")
Perhaps denying Prigozhin access to the Russian HQ was a bad idea? It would be wild if Wagner is responsible and letting Ukraine take the blame. Guardian > [@](#): > > Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force, which is leading the Russian offensive in Bakhmut, said that his representative had been denied access Monday to the headquarters of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine after Prigozhin repeatedly complained about a lack of ammunition. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2762 "2023-03-08T02:03:23Z")
So now they some ammunition. What’s he complaining about? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2763 "2023-03-08T02:05:12Z")
I was attempting to be _delicate_. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2764 "2023-03-08T02:06:36Z")
That and the radio that trasmits, “Is airplane comrade! Whatever shall we doski?” ---
**Author:** ![Ssounder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@Ssounder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ssounder)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2765 "2023-03-08T02:23:11Z")
If the reports I’ve seen are true, I don’t think that Prigozhin has any other choice but to turn his remaining forces toward Moscow. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2766 "2023-03-08T02:24:17Z")
jacta alea est? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2767 "2023-03-08T03:16:05Z")
It’s really unlikely that Prigozhin is planning on crossing the Rubicon, to carry on the analogy. Wagner is completely dependent on the MoD for logistics, and has no real independent war-making capacity. It’s also not very big. It’s professional core is probably somewhere in the 5-10k range, which is puny compared to the Russian army. The prisoner recruits jack the numbers up a fair ways but are effectively irrelevant for anything besides the sorts of human wave attacks seen around Bakhmut, and wouldn’t be much use for staging a coup. To my knowledge, Prigozhin also has no support base anywhere else in the Russian government/bureaucracy/police state apparatus, which he’d need if he wanted to oust Vladimir Vladimirovich and not be immediately removed from power in turn. ---
**Author:** ![Ssounder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@Ssounder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ssounder)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2768 "2023-03-08T03:55:40Z")
I’m not sue that I agree with your synopsis, if you put yourself in Prigozhin’s shoes, he’s currently cut off from the MoD and facing a total and imminent collapse of his forces due to a lack of re-supply. He talked shit about the Russian establishment multiple times. Imo Prigozhin miscalculated and foolishly burned bridges which brought the MoD to cut off Wagner support. If survival is his goal, how many options does he have? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2769 "2023-03-08T04:36:06Z")
> [@Ssounder](#): > > If survival is his goal, how many options does he have? Vacation in Argentina. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2770 "2023-03-08T04:36:52Z")
Bugger off to Africa somewhere where Wagner is operating? Your argument itself shows why Prigozhin has no hope of staging a coup. He has no re-supply without the MoD supporting him. The Russian army might have some serious issues, but it’s not realistically susceptible to being beaten by a few thousand mercenaries, especially if those mercenaries are dependent on the Russian army for supplies. Anyways, it’s not so very clear that Wagner is completely cut off. They’re still leading offensive operations around Bakhmut. That they don’t have as much artillery ammo as they’d like doesn’t make them unique amongst Russian front line units. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2771 "2023-03-08T07:29:06Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > The Russian army might have some serious issues, but it’s not realistically susceptible to being beaten by a few thousand mercenaries, especially if those mercenaries are dependent on the Russian army for supplies. Not to mention the Rosgvardiya (National Guard) and the National Police, who have their own chains of command, and about a million troops between them. I doubt they’ll just hand the country over to Wagner. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2772 "2023-03-08T08:01:28Z")
Prigozhin may yet find himself involved in a “special fenestral operation”. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2773 "2023-03-08T12:13:46Z")
Does he have a “real money” amount of dollars or euros? (“real money” in the “A _billion here_ , a _billion there_ , pretty soon it begins to add up to real money.” sense) Can he in any way shape of form help us win the next World Cup? Otherwise not interested thanks. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2774 "2023-03-08T15:31:06Z")
We’ve heard about how Ukraine managed to stop the Russian offensive in the south near Vuhledar dead in its tracks, destroying scores of tanks and armored vehicles and hundreds of Russian troops. This two minute video shows the tactics they used. [07 Mar: Ukrainians WIN THE BIGGEST TANK BATTLE OF THE WAR | War in Ukraine Explained - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cmnaxoEq5c) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972.md?page=135) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972.md?page=137)