# 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:** 60
**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:** [September 17, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1182 "2025-09-17T19:00:45Z")
šŸ¤¦ā€ā™‚ļø ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1183 "2025-09-17T19:56:26Z")
Discord sounds better šŸ˜† ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2025, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1184 "2025-09-19T00:00:40Z")
> [@Calder](#): > > How did you post your image? After uploading the image into my post when I click the reply message I get an error saying I canā€™t post media images. **Frodo** explained it, but to put a finer point on it: a) You canā€™t upload a photo, video, audio file, etc. from your own device and insert it into a Discourse post. Some popular forum software (e.g. Xenforo) will allow that, but not Discourse. b) You CAN enter the URL (web address) of a given photo, video, audio file, etc. from elsewhere on the Internet into a Discourse post. Generally, a photo/video input this will display just fine in a Discourse post. There are (not particularly common) exceptions, as the hosting server can choose settings that block this kind of linking. ---
**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 19, 2025, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1185 "2025-09-19T00:18:25Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Some popular forum software (e.g. Xenforo) will allow that, but not Discourse. More precisely, Discourse can allow that, but we have that option turned off here. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1186 "2025-09-19T16:41:50Z")
Good news: Russia gave NATO a good Article-5 reason to escalate Bad news: NATO did not escalate. > **[BREAKING: 3 Russian MiG-31 jets violate Estonian airspace, Tallinn says](https://kyivindependent.com/breaking-estonia-says-three-russian-warplanes-violated-its-airspace/)** > > Estonia summoned Russia's charge d'affaires on Sept. 19 after three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered the Baltic nation's airspace for 12 minutes, the Foreign Ministry said. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1187 "2025-09-19T17:11:12Z")
Ehh, Iā€™m almost certain NATO did not see violating their airspace as an ā€œarmed attackā€, which is what article 5 covers. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2025, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1188 "2025-09-19T17:22:49Z")
They do this all the time to different powers (certainly the UK, both in airspace and shadowing ships), and have done for years. The drones over Poland strike me as more of a challenge. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1189 "2025-09-19T17:25:48Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > They do this all the time to different powers (certainly the UK, both in airspace and shadowing ships), and have done for years. They probe the United States all the time too. But AFAIK, theyā€™re careful not to actually cross into U.S. airspace. ---
**Author:** ![Calder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Calder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calder)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2025, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1190 "2025-09-19T21:07:19Z")
Alright maybe this will work. Here is the image. (I hope laugh) Edit. well, that sort of worked. It is really small and hard to read until you open yourself but at least it is visible now. [![](https://i.postimg.cc/zbkbR1vF/Gz-NRUESWo-AAJIEX.png) ](https://i.postimg.cc/zbkbR1vF/Gz-NRUESWo-AAJIEX.png) I should repeat my note from before thatā€¦. I will also note that this graphic is significantly understating how well Ukraine has done, as it doesnā€™t include the Kharkiv region just north of this map, where the Kharkiv counteroffensive in late 2022 occurred. In other words, Ukraine has liberated more territory since August of 2022 than Russia has taken in the rest of the war combined. ie the Kharkiv and Kherson offensives liberated more territory than all of Russiaā€™s attacks since then. I donā€™t think it is possible to argue that Russia is winning the war at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1191 "2025-09-20T22:52:35Z")
After Ukraine regained all that territory the lines became quite stagnant. The war of attrition started to grind. It was somewhat even for quite a while. But the Russians usually had superior numbers of artillery and slowly gained more freedom of air attack. Russian personnel numbers began to increase. Russian arms production began to increase. After a while these increases were faster than the Ukraine side. The Russians still took some heavy losses by bad decisions and some excellent Ukraine decisions. But the attrition war has favoured the Russians. Now the Russians are pressing forward. But cautiously. They are very sensitive to casualty numbers. Bad press back home. But they have the numbers and materiel to press at many points along the front at the same time. The Ukrainians are spread very thin. Slowly being pushed back. The thing about attrition warfare, is the tipping point can come very unexpectedly. Multiple negative things can occur at the same time. There are some wildcards, but they seem unlikely to be played. I think Ukraine faces large territorial losses East of the Dnieper again. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2025, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1192 "2025-09-20T22:56:28Z")
One little-mentioned environment benefit of this war of attrition continuing is that the more casualties that Russia suffers, the less carbon emissions dead Russians will make. But this comes with the caveats that 1) dead Ukrainians mean less carbon emitted, too - but we obviously donā€™t want dead Ukrainians, and 2) wounded Russians will still emit nearly as much carbon as able-bodied Russians in the future. On top of that, the very act of warfare emits lots of carbon via tank/vehicle/jet emissions, etc. So only Russians killed via more environmentally-friendly ways, like being shot by a sniper on foot, or a grenade dropped by a battery-powered drone, will help. But again, weā€™d need something like 10 million Russian dead instead of a few hundred thousand to truly make any meaningful dent in climate change - or overpopulation, for that matter. Dead Russians also = less food consumed. TLDR; more dead Russians = healthier planet Earth. ---
**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 20, 2025, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1193 "2025-09-20T23:01:18Z")
Russia isnā€™t all that big a percentage of human life on Earth, and even live, healthy Russians arenā€™t anywhere near Americans in energy consumption. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1194 "2025-09-21T07:19:00Z")
To further reduce our carbon footprint, would it be more advisable to cook the flesh of the 10 million dead Russians using solar-generated heat, or to eat it raw? ---
**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 20, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1196 "2025-09-20T23:34:23Z")
This is cite free bullshit Russian propaganda. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1197 "2025-09-20T23:47:55Z")
> [@Kedikat](#): > > They are very sensitive to casualty numbers. Were you aiming for comedic effect here? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1198 "2025-09-21T08:51:13Z")
Reviewing some posts recently made. Will reopen in a few hours. One is probably going to the modloop. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1199 "2025-09-21T13:00:44Z")
This topic was automatically opened after 4 hours. ---
**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:** [September 21, 2025, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1200 "2025-09-21T14:26:36Z")
My apologies. I should probably have not said what I said on one of my posts. ---
**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:** [September 21, 2025, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1201 "2025-09-21T15:08:53Z")
Your analysis appears to be that Russia is taking its time and carefully eroding the Ukrainian defence until an inevitable victory. I agree that Russia has the potential to add more new troops than Ukraine (apparently itā€™s fine to use North Koreans directly to attack Ukrainians on Ukrainian territory but it would be outrageous should even peacekeepers from NATO be stationed in Ukraine), but Russia doesnā€™t have time on its side. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1202 "2025-09-21T15:37:52Z")
**Moderating** : First a mod note. We understand your strong reaction to the post that is about to draw a strong warning, but a flag would have been a lot better than an also abhorrent dark humor reply. Please avoid this in the future. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349.md?page=59) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349.md?page=61)