# Russia invades Ukraine -- The regional situation **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** ukraine-invasion\ **Created:** [December 30, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349 "2023-12-30T18:43:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 41
**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:** [December 10, 2024, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/802 "2024-12-10T12:07:22Z")
Russia appears to be trying for such a deal > **[Moscow reaches out to new Syrian leadership in move to secure bases](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/09/moscow-reaches-out-to-new-syrian-leadership-in-move-to-secure-bases?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other)** > > Having labelled Syrian rebels ‘terrorists’, Moscow is now making diplomatic efforts to protect its military assets in the country ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/803 "2024-12-10T15:12:19Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Taking territory is winning for Russia only in the sense that it’s actively exercising its power. Any cessation of war that allows a hostile Ukraine to continue to exist will be a loss Ukraine wasn’t hostile to Russia and would cease being hostile the instant the war ends. In no way is Ukraine a threat to Russia; the primary purpose of the war was territorial expansion. Russia’s intention all along has been complete annexation of eastern Ukraine, preferably with a puppet state in the west, but they’ll happily take an independent but much smaller Ukraine if it means they own most of what’s east of Kyiv. The fall of the Assad regime is good news, as it weakens Russia’s overall position, but I am afraid it may not be enough to save Ukraine once Putin’s slave is in the White House. Tulsi Gabbard will soon be feeding Russia’s defense ministry all the intelligence she can, which is untenable for Ukraine. ---
**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 10, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/804 "2024-12-10T16:49:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Ukraine wasn’t hostile to Russia and would cease being hostile the instant the war ends. In no way is Ukraine a threat to Russia; the primary purpose of the war was territorial expansion. Russia considers Ukraine hostile and a threat. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/805 "2024-12-10T16:54:42Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Russia considers Ukraine hostile and a threat. I don’t believe that. They SAY that but the evidence suggests it’s bullshit. They consider Ukraine an easy target. (Well, they did consider it easy. Not as easy as they had believed.) ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/806 "2024-12-10T16:57:16Z")
I expect that Russia not stepping in to prop up Assad gives encouragement to the opposition in Georgia. Apparently, the Russian military is spread so thin now because of Ukraine that they don’t have the resources to defend an ally. At this moment, Putin might not be able to do much about it if Georgia has a change in government. That could change when Trump takes office, since he’ll probably end support for Ukraine. This gives the Georgian opposition a strong incentive to make a move now, before the window of opportunity closes. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/807 "2024-12-10T17:14:55Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I don’t believe that. They SAY that but the evidence suggests it’s bullshit. They consider Ukraine an easy target. Eh, I think they’re genuinely paranoid. Russian political culture in general seems to be steeped in lingering Cold War paranoia. I doubt they felt in anyway immediately threatened by Ukraine, but it’s the potential don’t you know - NATO is trying to surround them! So, I do think they have mental shibboleths of their own imagining. However that is not the primary reason they went after Ukraine. The primary reason was pseudo-imperial aggrandizement. Indeed the fear of NATO surrounding them in realpolitik terms is probably to some extent the fear that they would thereby be prevented from dominating the old Soviet borderlands which is rightfully theirs. The Russians need a Black Sea fleet to help maintain their hollow pretensions to being a Great Power. They need Crimea to maintain the Black Sea fleet. They need a secure land bridge and preferably a buffer area to secure Crimea. Those areas have either an ethnic Russian majority or large Russian minorities, so why not? Ukraine, if it exists at all, should be a subservient client state like Belarus. Putin wants his empire, as do many other hyper-nationalist Russians that support him. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/808 "2024-12-10T17:22:45Z")
The Russians had to know that invading Ukraine would have led to Finland and Sweden promptly joining NATO - in other words, further surrounding of Russia by NATO. Whatever their motive was for invading Ukraine, putting a stop to NATO expansion does not seem to have been it. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/809 "2024-12-10T17:28:59Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > The Russians had to know that invading Ukraine would have led to Finland and Sweden promptly joining NATO - in other words, further surrounding of Russia by NATO. I honestly don’t think they did. After all those two hadn’t joined up during all those decades of Cold War and besides the Ukraine thing would be all over except for the shouting in a few days, two weeks tops. Then it would just be a re-establishment of some old Soviet boundaries, nothing to do with the Nordic countries. I mean nobody got too pissy with Russia when they forcibly re-arranged Georgia’s borders or annexed Crimea. As an example of foolish hubris and failure of intelligence (and imagination), Putin’s Ukraine adventure looms large. Goddamn shame that it might still sort work out for his ego in the long run, however much he managed to ruin both Ukraine and Russia for a generation. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/810 "2024-12-11T12:44:05Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I don’t believe that. They SAY that but the evidence suggests it’s bullshit. Of course. These thousands upon thousands of deaths are simply the results of an egomaniac with way too much power set lose. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/811 "2024-12-11T15:21:47Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > These thousands upon thousands of deaths are simply the results of an egomaniac with way too much power set lose. That’s not correct either. Putin and his bobos do have a reason for doing this. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/812 "2024-12-11T15:54:30Z")
A reason that a better breed of humanity would not countenance in anyone in any position of authority; not even a parking enforcement officer. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/813 "2024-12-11T16:56:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > That’s not correct either. Putin and his bobos do have a reason for doing this. Lay it on me. What is the reason? ---
**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 11, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/814 "2024-12-11T23:33:07Z")
Like so many other things in life, the reason is that they’re idiots. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2024, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/815 "2024-12-12T04:54:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > the reason is that they’re idiots. Egomaniacal idiots with delusions of empire. ---
**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 12, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/816 "2024-12-12T17:24:15Z")
This is an update. I posted links about the upcoming siege a few days ago in the main thread. A loss here could allow the Russians to take control of Donbas. A key objective since the war began. Link [Russian forces edge closer to a key eastern Ukraine city in intense fighting, officials say | AP News](https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-donetsk-povkrosk-874ec44e371644dc1f35389696d42665) > [@](#): > > Ukrainian troops repelled nearly 40 Russian attempts to storm defenses around Pokrovsk over the previous 24 hours, the General Staff said in a battlefield report Thursday. > > “Russian occupiers are throwing all available forces forward, attempting to break through the defenses of our troops,” Ukrainian army chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a Facebook post late Wednesday. His forces are outnumbered, he said. > > Ukraine’s stretched defenses in Donetsk have been creaking since early this year under a fierce Russian drive to capture its neighbor’s entire eastern Donbas region. Russian forces are trying to overwhelm Ukraine’s battlefield defenses with sheer numbers of troops and [powerful glide bombs](https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-bombs-airfields-scorched-earth-58380b8625df7ed52a3b5472326559b8) that blast fortifications to smithereens. ---
**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 21, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/817 "2024-12-21T18:47:22Z")
Modern warfare just took a frightening leap forward. Remember the opening combat scene in Terminator? Yeah, it could be reality in another 10 years. > **[For first time, Ukraine attacks Russian positions using solely ground, FPV...](https://kyivindependent.com/for-first-time-ukraine-attacks-russian-positions-using-solely-ground-fpv-drones/)** > > A military spokesperson said the drones included ground systems equipped with machine guns, and kamikaze FPV drones. > [@](#): > > Ukrainian forces successfully attacked Russian positions using only ground and first person view (FPV) drones instead of infantry, an army spokesperson claimed on Dec. 20. > > Speaking on [national TV](https://youtu.be/aDXWlQ2K0dM), Sergeant Volodymyr Dehtiarov, spokesperson for the Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of [Ukraine](https://kyivindependent.com/tag/ukraine/), said “dozens of units of robotic and unmanned equipment” supported by surveillance drones were used in the assault near the village of Lyptsi, north of Kharkiv. > > Dehtiarov said the [drones](https://kyivindependent.com/tag/drones/) included ground systems equipped with machine guns, and kamikaze FPV drones ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/818 "2024-12-22T04:17:08Z")
I’ve been wondering for a while now why the usage of mini-drones programmed to kill all humans within a certain radius hasn’t become standard warfare practice by now (as was shown in a sci-fi TV show a few years back.) The concept would be lots of drones, maybe the size of a human hand or finger, that would carry a small explosive charge and be programmed to visually home in on anything that resembles a human head/face/body. The drones wouldn’t have battery to fly far, but they wouldn’t have to. You could find some way to release or transport a crate to any place where you expect to find nothing but enemy troops, and a high density of them. That’s what would seemingly have been the next logical step of drone warfare in a place like Ukraine. ---
**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 22, 2024, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/819 "2024-12-22T04:24:25Z")
A electronic ID chip could identify friendly forces. Change the 64 bit signal daily or as needed. Much like troops on D Day used questions and replies to Identity friendly forces. Q who won the 1939 World Series? Answer The Yankees swept the Series in four ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/820 "2024-12-22T05:23:25Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I’ve been wondering for a while now why the usage of mini-drones programmed to kill all humans within a certain radius hasn’t become standard warfare practice by now (as was shown in a sci-fi TV show a few years back.) Well, I’d think that mostly be because it’s not needed. If you want to kill all humans in a certain radius, we have several weapons that are dandy at doing that without developing a mini drone to do the same. Fuel-air bombs would do the same job, but even less discriminately. However they do have the advantage of not having to identify the targets. One example: > **[CBU-72](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBU-72)** > > The CBU-72 was a 550-pound (250 kg) American fuel-air cluster bomb used by the United States Military until 1996. It was very effective against armored vehicles, aircraft parked in the open, bunkers, and minefields. > The CBU-72 consisted of three fuel-air explosive (FAE) submunitions. Each submunition weighed about 100 pounds (45 kg) and dispensed a cloud approximately 60 feet (18 m) in diameter and 8 feet (2.4 m) high, composed of its 75 pounds (34 kg) of ethylene oxide aerosol fuel across the ... > [@aceplace57](#): > > Q who won the 1939 World Series? > Answer The Yankees swept the Series in four Hehe, and I’d be shot, because I wouldn’t know the answer. In the modern case, I’d probably be droned because I forgot to charge my token or something else just as silly. ---
**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 22, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/821 "2024-12-22T23:21:50Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Well, I’d think that mostly be because it’s not needed. If you want to kill all humans in a certain radius, we have several weapons that are dandy at doing that without developing a mini drone to do the same. Fuel-air bombs would do the same job, but even less discriminately. Depends on what “certain radius” you want. You can’t kill everyone within a couple of miles using a conventional explosive, even a fuel-air bomb, but you just might be able to with a drone swarm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349.md?page=40) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349.md?page=42)