# 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:** 147
**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 16, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2975 "2023-03-16T18:26:12Z")
The russians would have to go through Ukraine to invade Moldova, something they seem to have some trouble with, at the moment. ---
**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 16, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2976 "2023-03-16T18:30:55Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I’m not convinced that at this point it would even be possible. What army is Putin going to use to do this? And how exactly will they get there? Recall the thermonuclear war game of many years ago, where the winner’s avatar walks outside to a barren radioactive desert, and proclaims, “I win!” ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2977 "2023-03-16T18:33:08Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Even the bungling Russians couldn’t mess up that invasion. How do the bungling Russians get there? I know there are some Russian troops there currently, but I’m not convinced they are trained and equipped well enough to take over a country. How would additional equipment, reinforcements, ammunition arrive? Through the port of Odessa after it falls to the Mighty Black sea Russian fleet? Now that we know more about the Russian army preparedness, logistics etc, I’m thinking that Moldova would not need an actual standing army. Maybe just some farmers with guns and tractors would be enough. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2978 "2023-03-16T18:36:11Z")
A contingency plan that I hope Ukraine/Moldova has is to send drones to wipe out the [Cobasna ammunition depot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobasna_ammunition_depot) in the event of Russian moves against Moldova. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2023, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2979 "2023-03-16T18:39:21Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > The russians would have to go through Ukraine to invade Moldova, something they seem to have some trouble with, at the moment. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > How do the bungling Russians get there? I know this. I didn’t think I needed to make it clear that _obviously_ they would have to get through Ukraine first. And they would have to completely finish off Ukraine too otherwise the invaders would be surrounded by enemies. ---
**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 16, 2023, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2980 "2023-03-16T18:44:08Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I’m thinking that Moldova would not need an actual standing army. Maybe just some farmers with guns and tractors would be enough. Motor boat over there and start shooting and raping (perhaps not in that order) some farmer’s wives and daughters. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2981 "2023-03-16T18:47:15Z")
I think Putin’s plan for Moldova is to foment dissent and orchestrate a pro-Russian coup. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2982 "2023-03-16T18:54:17Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Motor boat over there and start shooting and raping (perhaps not in that order) some farmer’s wives and daughters. Gonna be a long motorboat ride, [first under this bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pivdennyi_Bridge_(Kyiv)) in Ukraine, and then 40 km up the [Dniester Estuary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dniester_Estuary) (held by Ukraine), with an average depth of 1.8 meters, and then through some swampland to Moldova ---
**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:** [March 16, 2023, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2983 "2023-03-16T18:55:10Z")
You’d think the example of what’s happening right next door would preclude such a plan working now. I can’t imagine anyone being so pro-Russian that they’d invite that kind of shitshow into their own homes. ---
**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 16, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2984 "2023-03-16T18:56:58Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Gonna be a long motorboat ride, [first under this bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pivdennyi_Bridge_(Kyiv)) in Ukraine, and then 40 km up the [Dniester Estuary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dniester_Estuary) (held by Ukraine), with an average depth of 1.8 meters, and then through some swampland to Moldova Well, tow that big 'ol aircraft carrier over there. ---
**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 16, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2985 "2023-03-16T18:59:30Z")
The first map I found showed them as having a coastline. Google Maps shows a revision of some sort regarding the Black Sea. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2986 "2023-03-16T19:01:32Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > You’d think the example of what’s happening right next door would preclude such a plan working now. I can’t imagine anyone being so pro-Russian that they’d invite that kind of shitshow into their own homes. Agreed. That’s why I suspect these plans were the pre-Ukraine invasion plans. As in “This is what we plan to do next”. I hope the only plan now is which bunker Putin is going to hide in before his demise. ---
**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 16, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2987 "2023-03-16T19:02:24Z")
One on the ground floor. ---
**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 16, 2023, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2988 "2023-03-16T19:03:29Z")
I recall Lukashenko letting the Moldavian cat out of the bag shortly after the invasion began last year. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2989 "2023-03-16T19:54:23Z")
Some background on the Moldova situation: > [@](#): > > In Moldova, where pro-European president Maia Sandu was elected in 2020 with 58% of the popular vote, the situation could hardly have been more different. Periodically over the past few weeks, in the capital of Chisinau, tens of thousands of citizens have indeed taken to the streets to chant “Down with Maia Sandu” and “Down with the dictatorship.” However, their presence there is due less to personal initiative than to a well-funded opposition movement, financed from abroad, which organizes buses and compensation for participants from the country’s provinces. > > The protests themselves are led by the Shor Party, which received 5.74% of the popular vote in the country’s July 2021 parliamentary elections. The party’s namesake, Ilan Shor, a member of parliament, is presently living in Israel. In October 2022, Shor was added to the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions list, which explains that he “was previously arrested on money laundering and embezzlement charges related to the 2014 theft of $1 billion from Moldovan banks,” and that in 2021 he “worked with Russian individuals to create a political alliance to control Moldova’s parliament.” > > Despite warnings from Western officials and from President Sandu herself that Russian agents were seeking to destabilize Moldova, domestic security officials appear to be keeping the situation under control. In recent weeks, groups of “soccer fans” from Serbia, “boxers” from Montenegro, and returning “tourists” from Turkey have all been denied entry to Moldova based on the suspicion that they were Russian agents sent in order to provoke clashes at upcoming protest demonstrations. > **[Russian TV shows Moldova's protests as pro-Russian, Georgia's as U.S.-Led](https://www.newsweek.com/russian-tv-shows-moldovas-protests-pro-russian-georgias-us-led-1788006)** > > "it gives them the impression that things are not as bad in Russia as they are everywhere else," ISW analyst tells Newsweek. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2990 "2023-03-16T20:03:02Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Despite warnings from Western officials and from President Sandu herself that Russian agents were seeking to destabilize Moldova, domestic security officials appear to be keeping the situation under control. I’m confused by the term “Despite” here. From context, it seems they mean “Due to warnings from Western officials” ---
**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:** [March 16, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2991 "2023-03-16T22:25:43Z")
I think the “despite” refers to “Russian agents [were] seeking to destabilize Moldova”, but a sentence-ologist would need to unpack it. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2992 "2023-03-16T22:36:50Z")
Definite hit on one of the prop blades. Either a bent or broken tip on one. Totally looks like an unintended hit, just a pilot that’s not as good as he thought he was. > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > They were setting up cameras to “to film transport infrastructure used to deliver aid to Ukraine” and preparing sabotage plans. One possible target of their cameras was the airport Biden used to fly in for his Kyiv visit. Good one for Poland. This, along with their announcement that they are for sure sending MiG-29s to Ukraine gets them a big thumbs up. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > In other news, Russia is still failing to surround Bakhmut. I think they may set a new record for days of failure to surround a city that brings them no significant military advantages. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Cobasna ammunition depot Such a simple target too. I believe almost all of Russia’s troops are located there. 1,700 if I recall correctly. > [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > I think Putin’s plan for Moldova is to foment dissent and orchestrate a pro-Russian coup. **From Feb 23rd. upthread:** > [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Here’s a statement the Russian Ministry of Defence released yesterday: > > [https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1628600598663774209](https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1628600598663774209) They may as well just have Putin go on live tv and say he plans to stir up trouble in Moldova and blame it on Ukraine. [/quote] Took him a little time, but there it is. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2993 "2023-03-16T22:42:48Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > An FSB building is burning in a town near the Ukrainian border. Normally I take no pleasure in hearing about anyone dying, but I would share no tears about FSB losses. > > [Fire at security building in Russia's Rostov-on-Don - BBC News](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64975202) Looks like there’s an evening performance: [https://twitter.com/Watchma51035016/status/1636489068975366147](https://twitter.com/Watchma51035016/status/1636489068975366147) > ---
**Author:** ![Nightaudit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightaudit/32/17181_2.png) [@Nightaudit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightaudit)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/2994 "2023-03-16T22:50:21Z")
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