# 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:** 305
**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:** [October 20, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6192 "2023-10-20T15:16:16Z")
There was a huge explosion of a Russian TOS-1A thermobaric MLRS system reported today which I was expecting to be the climax of that video. > ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6193 "2023-10-20T17:13:25Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > There was a huge explosion of a Russian TOS-1A thermobaric MLRS system reported today which I was expecting to be the climax of that video. > > [https://twitter.com/JimmySecUK/status/1715326009061384345?s=20](https://twitter.com/JimmySecUK/status/1715326009061384345?s=20) With that big a bang, I don’t think it was carrying thermobaric munitions. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6194 "2023-10-20T18:29:04Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > big salient Yes, termobaric munitions get their explosive power by widely dispersing a aerosol cloud of fuel before igniting them. If you hit such a weapon with a missle, the fuel would ignite before being dispersed. It would create a big fire but not a gigantic explosion. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6195 "2023-10-20T18:44:10Z")
I’ve been following the Ukraine news on Daily Kos since the initial invasion. Even though much of the site itself is irritating, their Ukraine war coverage is extremely superior to the (contemptible) coverage of the major papers I read. They’ve been reporting on the Avdivka debacle since it began some time ago. Kos is a vet and appears to know his stuff. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2023, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6196 "2023-10-20T19:03:54Z")
Ukraine is still pressing forward in Kherson. The Dnipro river is a major obstacle. It’s encouraging they’re beginning to cross and take back territory. > **[Ukraine war: Kyiv troop build-up reported across Dnipro river](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67058953)** > > Ukraine appears to be expanding its forces on the Russian-occupied left or eastern bank of the river. > [@](#): > > Hours earlier, the ISW quoted Russian sources as claiming that “likely company-sized elements of two Ukrainian naval infantry brigades conducted an assault across the Dnipro River on to the east bank” on 17-18 October. > > “Geolocated footage published on 18 October indicates that Ukrainian forces advanced north of Pishchanivka (14km east of Kherson City and 3km from the Dnipro River) and into [the village of] Poyma (11km east of Kherson City and 4km from the Dnipro River),” the US-based think tank added. > > Russian military blogger WarGonzo claimed on Thursday that the Ukrainian units fighting on the eastern bank of Ukraine’s main river had been previously trained in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Digger11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Digger11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digger11)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6197 "2023-10-21T02:02:13Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Avdiivka as a focal point for a Russian offensive makes zero sense, by the way. It’s probably the most fortified Ukrainian position on the entire front. It’s just outside of Donetsk city, and the Russians have been trying to take it since 2014. It does sit in a big salient, which I guess is why it’s been targeted, but it’s a big fortified position on a big hill. And taking it wouldn’t even really open the way for further gains. The lines here haven’t been largely static for the last 9 years for no reason. This seems to be sort of an “Alice in Wonderland” war, where the fact that the attack makes no sense is precisely why it makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6198 "2023-10-21T03:11:49Z")
It would create an explosion considerably smaller than if the warhead deployed, but the warload is still volatile fuel and an explosion involving the intact weapon would still look like a special effects pyrotechnic explosion, like the over-flamey explosions you see in movies. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6199 "2023-10-21T06:58:45Z")
> [@Digger11](#): > > This seems to be sort of an “Alice in Wonderland” war, where the fact that the attack makes no sense is precisely why it makes sense. It’s [advanced World War I tactics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblfKREj50o&t=9s&ab_channel=Harmulus). ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6200 "2023-10-21T11:40:10Z")
Avdiivka direction: > > > ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6201 "2023-10-21T13:26:26Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > It’s [advanced World War I tactics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblfKREj50o&t=9s&ab_channel=Harmulus). I knew what that was going to be before I clicked the link. I’ve thought of it before during this war, with regard to Russian tactics. Spoiler: It’s a scene from an episode of _Blackadder Goes Forth_. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6202 "2023-10-21T21:54:38Z")
So, something we haven’t heard much about… In the opening few weeks of the war, Ukraine was making a priority of targeting the Russian fuel trucks, and the news was reporting that they destroyed a significant fraction of Russia’s entire fuel-truck fleet. Presumably, they wouldn’t have stopped targeting them since, but Russia is still fielding motorized vehicles, that haven’t ground completely to a standstill. What’s the status on that front? ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6203 "2023-10-21T22:17:33Z")
Every day there are videos of Russian trucks getting attacked with kamikaze drones, which seems to be the main method with which they are destroyed. There’s also a lot of use by the Russians of “loafs”, which are Scooby-Doo-style vans, to carry supplies around, which also get targeted by kamikaze drones. The situation’s a bit different than last year, when attacking trucks was a way to stop the Russians advancing into Ukrainian territory by cutting off their supply. Now Russia is mostly on the defense, attacking them seems to be more part of the overall attritional fight. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6204 "2023-10-22T14:25:24Z")
Maybe the Russians are desperate enough to get fuel to the front that they’ll consider an armored tracked fuel transport. > **[Russia is designing an armored tanker based on the T-15 Armata](https://bulgarianmilitary.com/amp/2023/10/18/russia-is-designing-an-armored-tanker-based-on-the-t-15-armata/)** > > An innovative Russian armored tanker has been engineered by experts at the Military Academy of Logistics, dedicated to General of the Army A.V. Khrulev. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6205 "2023-10-22T15:19:00Z")
Just take out the tracks and you will use more fuel to move it out of there to the troops than it can carry. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6206 "2023-10-22T15:22:29Z")
So…an experimental rolling bomb, based on an experimental tank platform that Russia pulled from the theater after “tests” that didn’t involve putting it anywhere it could get shot at? I’m sure drivers will be lining up for a crack at this innovation. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6207 "2023-10-22T16:12:37Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > [Ukraine war: Kyiv troop build-up reported across Dnipro river](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67058953) this has been going on (on and off) for a good year … but as long as the UKR doesn’t succeed in bringing armored weaponry to the other side after the initial push … it seems to be more of a “nuisance-mosquito-excursion” than anything that will have any significance beyond bragging-rights / war-story cache prob. a little of fixing enemy forces in place or so … but not really relevant ---
**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:** [October 22, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6208 "2023-10-22T16:17:44Z")
It’s the same with the raids in Crimea. The Russians can’t take it for granted anymore and they have to commit forces to defend the territory. Originally published in the NY Times. > **[Inside the Commando Raids Unnerving Russia in Crimea](https://dnyuz.com/2023/10/22/inside-the-commando-raids-unnerving-russia-in-crimea/)** > > Late one evening this month, two Ukrainian commandos eased into a side street in Kyiv in a battered SUV. Back > [@](#): > > The raids were part of a series of punishing attacks on Crimea by Ukrainian forces since midsummer that have succeeded in disabling some Russian air-defense systems and damaging naval repair yards at Sevastopol. Russia later moved 10 warships from Sevastopol on the west coast of Crimea to the port of Novorossisk on the Russian mainland, though U.S. officials say it remains unclear whether the withdrawals were tied to security concerns or just a regular rotation. > > But there is no denying that attacks within Crimea are increasing, and may rise even further with the new ATACMS long-range missiles just delivered from the United States. “A dynamic, deep strike battle is underway,” British military intelligence said in a statement. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6209 "2023-10-22T16:25:19Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > but as long as the UKR doesn’t succeed in bringing armored weaponry to the other side after the initial push … it seems to be more of a “nuisance-mosquito-excursion” than anything that will have any significance beyond bragging-rights / war-story cache What they need are weapons with a longer range so they can stay on the west side of the river where they’re better defended. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6210 "2023-10-22T16:49:29Z")
but that will not give them back the east side of their country… at one moment in time you need to committ boots and tracks on the ground … mind you - i am not critizising them or anything … they seem to be really smart on what they do, esp. NOT dispensing resources into stupid dick-measuring-battles I assume they wait for the front in the south to crumble (and necessitating more RU troops/materiel) and are laying the groundwork for future more massive attacks - once the time is ripe E2add: an add. complexity is - if UKR bring the heavy hitters to the other side of the Dnepr, they MUST succeed, otherwise they will suffer the same faith the RU suffered in Kherson, where they had a lot of materiel on the wrong side of the river and no chance to advance … those scenarios invite a slugfest, where you will be paying the bill … so that is a “ **make-me-or-break-me** ” type of scenario. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/6211 "2023-10-22T17:54:40Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > but that will not give them back the east side of their country… at one moment in time you need to committ boots and tracks on the ground … Boots yes, tracks, no. Tanks are just expensive targets to be taken out from afar. Russia is trying to fight WWII all over again. Take away their tanks, which Ukraine is doing, and you’re left with unmotivated sacks of meat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972.md?page=304) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972.md?page=306)