# 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:** 51
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1003 "2022-12-06T17:03:13Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m not sure striking Russian power stations would be wise. The response after hitting the Crimea bridge was pretty frightening. It might not be wise, but unless Russia goes nuclear it wouldn’t be for the reason of having to fear Russian reprisals. As far as I can tell they’ve already been throwing everything they have at Ukraine, so they don’t really have room to escalate any further (short of going nuclear). ---
**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:** [December 6, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1004 "2022-12-06T17:20:29Z")
Could they drop one on the Kremlin itself? It would look pretty bad for the Russians if they could. Do they have the range? Do they have enough stealth to make it without getting shot down? Can I start a go fund me page to buy them better tech? ---
**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:** [December 6, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1005 "2022-12-06T17:30:08Z")
I prefer them hitting purely military targets. Especially the infrastructure that is directly used to kill Ukrainian civilians. Military planes, military fuel depots, military ammunition stores, military convoys, etc. This is the most effective use of Ukrainian missiles and drones. A strike on Russian civilian targets (even the Kremlin) would just serve to harden the Russian determination to exterminate and depopulate Ukraine. Ukraine has to win this conflict militarily, by eliminating the Russian ability to launch attacks. They don’t have the resources to destroy enough civilian infrastructure to make much difference. And it’s a losing strategy anyway. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2022, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1006 "2022-12-06T17:36:41Z")
Bombing the Kremlin would likely strengthen Russian resolve, and make Ukraine just as bad as Russia. Regardless who’s in it, it’s a marvellous piece of Russian architecture and heritage. Agree better to focus solely on classic military targets to impair Russian ability to hit Ukraine. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1007 "2022-12-06T17:43:50Z")
I dunno. I would think at least some infrastructure attacks could well be argued to be aimed at military capability. If not roads, bridges, and fuel deposits/pipelines w/in 100 miles of the border, cuber attacks on energy distribution and telecoms in districts with military installations. Sure, Ukraine ought not attack schools and hospitals as the Russians have, but I would support considerable expansion by them. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1008 "2022-12-06T18:03:57Z")
So how about just Putin being driven in a car or on a plane Should they take him out if they have the chance? ---
**Author:** ![lum\_s\_husband](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lum_s_husband/32/3698_2.png) [@lum\_s\_husband](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lum_s_husband)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1009 "2022-12-06T18:17:20Z")
No. You must never hit back; doing so makes you the worse aggressor. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1010 "2022-12-06T19:17:29Z")
Another Russian oil storage tank. Does oil tank mean any petroleum product? Gas, diesel, heating oil? Aviation fuel is basically kerosene. > **[Drone attack hits oil storage tank at airfield in Russia’s Kursk region](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/06/drone-attack-hits-oil-storage-tank-airfield-russia-kursk)** > > No casualties reported as facility set on fire, one day after Russia blames Ukraine for two other drone strikes ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1011 "2022-12-06T19:37:24Z")
I just read that the airbase that was attacked is equally as far from Ukraine as the Kremlin. It would be funny to fly one over the Kremlin and just take a picture. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1012 "2022-12-06T20:12:22Z")
Here’s some analysis on the implications of attacking the bases in Russia: > Zelensky may have crossed the line and fired a drone into Russia, at least in part, to force Putin into this position—either of having to accept Russia’s military vulnerability (which could trigger Putin’s own political vulnerability) or having to escalate the war (which could bring the U.S. and NATO to engage in it more directly). > **[How Ukraine Just Showed That Russia Is Way More Vulnerable Than Anyone Imagined](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/12/ukraine-drone-strike-putin-russia.html)** > > Drone strikes deep in Russian territory are a first—and they were accomplished with Soviet-era weaponry. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1013 "2022-12-06T20:14:22Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I just read that the airbase that was attacked is equally as far from Ukraine as the Kremlin. It would be funny to fly one over the Kremlin and just take a picture. I’d like to see Ukraine drop anti-Putin leaflets in Red Square. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2022, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1014 "2022-12-06T20:24:56Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > by eliminating the Russian ability to launch attacks. I’m reminded of a Bob Stevens cartoon. An American pilot is in his P-47 Thunderbolt, sitting smugly while a Messerschmitt Me-109 shoots away at him; it’s bullets bouncing harmlessly off of the T-bolt. The American thinks, ‘I can always wait until he runs out of ammo.’ P-47s were incredibly tough aircraft. I see a similar toughness in the military, people, and leadership of Ukraine. They’re absorbing a lot of damage, but at the same time, they’re making Russia expend its munitions – munitions that may be hard to replenish. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1015 "2022-12-06T21:00:00Z")
It would have been wonderful if Ukraine had hit the trucks with missiles. They probably had truckloads of missles on the flight line to arm the bombers. That’s a very vulnerable target. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1016 "2022-12-06T21:11:04Z")
And kudos to the brave person who may have painted the targets for them! ---
**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:** [December 6, 2022, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1017 "2022-12-06T22:13:30Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I dunno. I would think at least some infrastructure attacks could well be argued to be aimed at military capability. If not roads, bridges, and fuel deposits/pipelines w/in 100 miles of the border, cuber attacks on energy distribution and telecoms in districts with military installations. > > Sure, Ukraine ought not attack schools and hospitals as the Russians have, but I would support considerable expansion by them. They UKR have screwed up the Moscow subway, are currently attacking the Russian court system with a wiper virus, called all the Moscow taxis to Red Square among other things. Below is another attack. **Russian state-owned bank VTB hit by largest DDoS attack in its history** Story by Reuters • 51m ago MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s No. 2 bank VTB was hit by the largest cyber attack in its history, it said on Tuesday, warning of temporary difficulties in accessing its mobile app and website, but assuring customers that their data remained safe. State-owned VTB said it was repelling the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, in which hackers attempt to flood a network with unusually high volumes of data traffic in order to paralyse it. “The bank’s technological infrastructure is under an unprecedented cyber attack from abroad,” VTB said in a statement. “The largest not only this year, but in the whole time the bank has operated.”… [https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/russian-state-owned-bank-vtb-hit-by-largest-ddos-attack-in-its-history/ar-AA14X9EF](https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/russian-state-owned-bank-vtb-hit-by-largest-ddos-attack-in-its-history/ar-AA14X9EF) ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1018 "2022-12-06T22:42:27Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > “The bank’s technological infrastructure is under an unprecedented cyber attack from abroad,” Admitting that Ukraine is not a part of Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1019 "2022-12-06T23:08:37Z")
So you’re opposed to self-defense? ---
**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:** [December 6, 2022, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1020 "2022-12-06T23:12:09Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Here’s some analysis on the implications of attacking the bases in Russia: That’s reading way too much into it. Ukraine is attacking the airbases because the airbases are one of the things enabling Russia to kill Ukrainians. The goal is to eventually remove all of the ways Russia has of killing Ukrainians, at which point Ukraine wins the war, and there really isn’t much way of winning the war without doing that. If the goal was to provoke Russia into escalating, then they would be targeting places like the Kremlin. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2022, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1021 "2022-12-06T23:43:34Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I dunno. I would think at least some infrastructure attacks could well be argued to be aimed at military capability. If not roads, bridges, and fuel deposits/pipelines w/in 100 miles of the border, cuber attacks on energy distribution and telecoms in districts with military installations. I agree. As long as it’s got a clear military purpose. I just meant that the Kremlin, even though it’s Putin’s seat of government, has a strong cultural heritage to it as well. If they are attacking in Moscow, try for an air base or fuel depot, with clear military objective and relatively low chance of civilian injuries. Ukraine doesn’t want to forfeit the « good guys » capital that it’s built up. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972/1022 "2022-12-06T23:46:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The goal is to eventually remove all of the ways Russia has of killing Ukrainians, at which point Ukraine wins the war, and there really isn’t much way of winning the war without doing that. I don’t think Ukraine is naive enough to think this is a realistic goal. Did you read the part about 54 cruise missiles launched against Syria, and planes were taking off the next day? Ukraine cannot remove all the ways Russia has to attack them. This is a message. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972.md?page=50) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-2/973972.md?page=52)