# 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:** 293
**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:** [September 21, 2023, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5950 "2023-09-21T01:30:55Z")
bear in mind this will only work on extremely sunny days … and lets face it sunshine will not go 30cm deep into soil - and mines will not have sufficiently energy stored to radiate warmth back through 30cm of soil. there was a best-case scenario, where mines were laid out on the open ground (highish grass) … so that did work for a nice IR-photo-op … but just put a couple of them mines underground and it will blow sappers up - just enough to not make this not practicable if you have november-fog-soup-weather for days on end, where its overcast and 0° … then everything will have 0°C and hence no thermal signature to speak of. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5951 "2023-09-21T01:59:30Z")
[Except they’re already finding mines using this.](https://www.flir.com/news-center/camera-cores--components/tech-for-good--thermal-technology-for-locating-buried-landmines/) So I’m not sure what the discussion is about. When the sun comes out it heats up the ground regardless of how much fog is present. Objects of different densities and thermal characteristics are visible because they exchange thermal heat at different rates. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5952 "2023-09-21T02:07:00Z")
I think that, if I found myself in need of mine-clearing, I’d use every detection technique I had at my disposal, because missing any means that someone will have a very bad day. Doubtless IR finds some of them, but probably not all, and probably not all the same ones that other techniques would. Bring on the IR, and the ground-penetrating radar, and the ground-penetrating sonar, and the trained bees, and the magnetometers, and whatever else you’ve got. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5953 "2023-09-21T02:11:53Z")
They ought to bring in those [mine-detecting giant African rats.](https://time.com/6138994/magawa-dies-landmines-cambodia/) No, that’s not a joke. One of their advantages is they’re only about three pounds so too light to set of the landmines. Of course, the Ukrainian climate might not be congenial for them for part of the year. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5954 "2023-09-21T02:17:02Z")
The trained bees weren’t a joke, either. But hey, if you’ve got ROUSs, I’ll take them, too. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5955 "2023-09-21T02:20:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think that, if I found myself in need of mine-clearing, I’d use every detection technique I had at my disposal, because missing any means that someone will have a very bad day. Doubtless IR finds some of them, but probably not all, and probably not all the same ones that other techniques would. Bring on the IR, and the ground-penetrating radar, and the ground-penetrating sonar, and the trained bees, and the magnetometers, and whatever else you’ve got. Pretty much this. As stated earlier I suspect they’re looking for fields of mines and not individual mines. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5956 "2023-09-21T02:35:47Z")
Did it occur to you that in winter, the ground might warm up faster than a mine, and it would be revealed as a denser cold sink in warming soil? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5957 "2023-09-21T02:46:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > trained bees [Googles] I’ll be damned. High 90s percent accuracy! ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5958 "2023-09-21T12:06:32Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Did it occur to you that in winter, the ground might warm up faster than a mine, and it would be revealed as a denser cold sink in warming soil? > A cold patch was found above the buried landmines at night, and a hot patch above buried landmines during daylight hours. Granted, this was in the Sahara. ---
**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:** [September 21, 2023, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5959 "2023-09-21T13:01:18Z")
Poland has said they will pause weapon supplies to Kyiv for the time being, may reconsider doing it at all. Disputes over grain shipments, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5960 "2023-09-21T13:04:27Z")
I’m seeing reports that they’ve worked it out. ---
**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:** [September 21, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5961 "2023-09-21T17:05:15Z")
Is Russia _ever_ going to to exhaust its supply of cruise missiles? They use them so indiscriminately and they’re always more the next week. > **[Ukraine hit with largest wave of Russian missiles since mid-August](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/21/ukraine-hit-with-largest-wave-of-russian-missiles-since-mid-august)** > > At least two dead and dozens injured as falling debris causes damage in Kyiv and Kharkiv suffers several strikes > [@](#): > > The Ukrainian army chief, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said Ukraine’s air defence successfully shot down 36 out of 43 Russian cruise missiles launched from 10 warplanes in multiple waves. > Twenty of those were shot down over Kyiv, according to Sergiy Popko, the head of the city’s military administration, who said they were of the X-101/555/55 type launched from Tu-95MS strategic aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5962 "2023-09-21T17:30:40Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Is Russia _ever_ going to to exhaust its supply of cruise missiles? They use them so indiscriminately and they’re always more the next week. paywalled link from New York Times .[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/13/us/politics/russia-sanctions-missile-production.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/13/us/politics/russia-sanctions-missile-production.html) Some quotes from the paywalled link: | Russia Overcomes Sanctions to Expand Missile Production Moscow’s missile production now exceeds prewar levels, officials say, leaving Ukraine especially vulnerable this coming winter.[/quote] Ukraine does not have enough air defense systems to cover the entire country, and must pick the sites it defends. An increased barrage of missiles could overwhelm the country’s air defenses, Ukrainian officials said. [Russian] military production has not only recovered but surged. Before the war, one senior Western defense official said, Russia could make 100 tanks a year; now they are producing 200. Western officials also believe Russia is on track to manufacture two million artillery shells a year — double the amount Western intelligence services had initially estimated Russia could manufacture before the war. American and Western officials say there is some good news. Russian production is still not keeping pace with how fast the military is burning through ammunition. For example, even though Russia is on pace to produce two million rounds of ammunition a year, it fired about 10 million rounds of artillery last year. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5963 "2023-09-21T17:58:50Z")
Information on Russian manufacturing capabilities must, by necessity, come from Russian sources – I’m sure Putin is doing everything he can to make as many weapons as he can, but I’m very skeptical that Russian sources would be accurate on their true manufacturing capabilities. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5964 "2023-09-21T19:52:25Z")
Not necessarily. Via satellite we can watch factories and see how much stuff goes in and out how often. Etc. It’s not merely taking Munitions Factory #123 Director Yakov Smirnoff’s word in a press release that he can produce 1.5 million shells per year. ---
**Author:** ![Mogle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mogle/32/12021_2.png) [@Mogle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mogle)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5965 "2023-09-21T20:29:39Z")
Perun did a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctrtAwT2sgs) last week on Russian production. TLDW: Actual Russian production has increased and still is increasing. But there is also a lot of equipment being “produced” by pulling old Soviet stocks out of storage and reactivating it. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5966 "2023-09-21T20:33:26Z")
So some info, perhaps, though I’m skeptical all the military and spy satellite data is available to Newsweek. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5967 "2023-09-21T20:46:50Z")
Why has the intel on Russia’s capabilities been so poor? Pre-war, the image seemed to be that Russia was a war machine and would have been able to steamroll through Ukraine. That wasn’t the case. The intel community seemed surprised Russia’s military performed so poorly and got bogged down. Early in the war the intel community was saying that Russia would quickly run out of stock and the sanctions would limit their ability to keep producing. That wasn’t the case, either. There’s always going to be some uncertainty with this sort of intel, but from what we’ve seen with this war, it seems like the intel has been about as accurate as day 10 of the 10-day weather forecast. ---
**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:** [September 21, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5968 "2023-09-21T21:02:19Z")
that seems quite relevant: (from the horse’s mouth) > > > George Barros @georgewbarros ---
**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:** [September 21, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/5969 "2023-09-21T23:28:59Z")
Latest US Aid Package, drawdown of existing stocks. The package, valued at up to $325 million, includes: - AIM-9M missiles for air defense; - Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); - Avenger air defense systems; - .50 caliber machine guns to counter Unmanned Aerial Systems; - 155mm artillery rounds, including DPICM; - 105mm artillery rounds; - Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles; - Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems; - Over 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition; - 59 light tactical vehicles; - Demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing; and - Spare parts, maintenance, and other field equipment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972.md?page=292) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972.md?page=294)