# 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:** 76
**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 29, 2025, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1503 "2025-12-29T04:40:30Z")
They’re still talking and not screaming at each other after meeting in Florida today. It occurred to me that Zelensky and his family will never be safe. He needs to relocate to Europe after leaving office. I know Zelensky isn’t leaving office any time soon. Hopefully he’s still be breathing when the government changes. It’s remarkable that his bodyguards have kept him alive. > **[Trump says progress made in Ukraine talks but 'thorny issues' remain](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36z615y443o)** > > Both the US president and Zelensky described the talks as "great" and "terrific" but the issue of territory remains "unresolved". > [@](#): > > Zelensky later said US and Ukrainian teams would meet next week for further talks on issues aimed at ending Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine. > > “We had a substantive conversation on all issues and highly value the progress that the Ukrainian and American teams have made over the past weeks,” Zelensky said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1504 "2025-12-30T03:01:37Z")
[Russia Accuses Ukraine of Drone Attack on Putin’s Residence, Kyiv Calls It ‘Fabrication’](https://www.kyivpost.com/post/67129) > [@](#): > > Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of firing drones at Vladimir Putin’s residence in Valdai, between Moscow and St. Petersburg, announcing it would “revise” its negotiating position on its war on Ukraine after the “terrorist attack.” > > In a statement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine fired 91 drones at Putin’s “official residence” in the Novgorod region Sunday night into Monday, adding that all of them were destroyed . . . > > Russia scholar Michael Weiss suggested on X that the accusation may be an attempt to probe how the US would react. He wrote: “See how it works? Russia already testing America’s willingness to detect and verify violations of any future peace deal. Strong odor of the false flag attacks that Putin used to justify the full-scale invasion.” Is anyone going to believe Russia shot down 91 out of 91? I wonder if you are even meant to believe that. Besides the Michael Weiss point above, it’s a test of emperor’s-new-clothes loyalty. And guess who passed: [‘I was very angry about it’: Trump on alleged Ukraine attack on Putin’s residence](https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2025/12/30/i-was-very-angry-about-it-trump-on-alleged-ukraine-attack-on-putin-s-residence.html) > [@](#): > > “I don’t like it. It’s not good,” he said while speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. . . . > > “You’re saying maybe the attack didn’t happen? That’s possible too, I guess. But President Putin told me this morning it did." ---
**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 30, 2025, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1505 "2025-12-30T03:11:02Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > I wonder if you are even meant to believe that. ‘They lie to us, we know they’re lying, they know we know they’re lying, but they keep lying to us, and we keep pretending to believe them.’ – attributed to Alexander Solzhenitsyn ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1506 "2025-12-31T14:15:36Z")
Has anyone else seen this video yet? [This May Be the Worst News Putin Has Ever Gotten](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkWFLb1bi8Y) In a nutshell, analyst, Paul Warburg explains that Ukraine has spent the last couple years constructing an impressive defensive line a few kilometers behind the front lines extending along most of the front (there are a few corridors where the line is interrupted where Russian forces would be presumably vectored into kill zones). For the past 4+ years Russia has sustained very high casualties fighting in areas that have defenses that are nowhere near as well prepared as this sort of Ukrainian Maginot Line. Why haven’t we heard about its construction previously? I’ve been following this war closely since it began and it’s the first time I’ve heard it mentioned. Although Ukraine just recently released a video documenting how impressive this defensive line is, Russia undoubtedly has been aware of its construction all along. Granted, this isn’t sexy footage of a new Ukrainian missile system or new drone technology, but it seems like this is the sort of thing that might definitely affect strategic considerations about the war’s direction and would be something more widely discussed by the media. ---
**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 31, 2025, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1507 "2025-12-31T14:20:40Z")
And why would anyone be angry about that, or why would Kyiv deny it if true? Taking out Putin, if possible, would probably be the least-bloody way possible to end the war. He’s a perfectly legitimate target. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1508 "2025-12-31T14:29:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And why would anyone be angry about that, or why would Kyiv deny it if true? Ukraine needs to humor an audience of one that they aren’t doing anything to derail his “peace talks”. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1509 "2025-12-31T16:01:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Taking out Putin, if possible, would probably be the least-bloody way possible to end the war. He’s a perfectly legitimate target. I believe you are seeing it wrong: this is a false flag operation and what Putin is saying is that Russia believes they could get Zelensky and will use this fabrication to claim it was legitimate self-defense. And trump will applaud, call it genius move and so clever. By the way: that Putin himself is a legitimate target is evident. And so are Labrov, and Medvedjev, and every single Russian general, and the complete cabinet, and most oligarchs. ---
**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 31, 2025, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1510 "2025-12-31T16:03:30Z")
That might be the (deluded) thinking behind it, but if Putin could take out Zelenskyy, he already would have long ago, and wouldn’t have needed any justification. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1511 "2025-12-31T16:10:09Z")
I believe they think that they will get good information soon, probably from trump himself. I bet Zelensky’s team is hardening his protection even more than they do anyway and probably giving false clues to trump and his entourage. Of course they have tried to kill Zelensky all along. Thank Godott for their incompetence. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1512 "2025-12-31T16:37:43Z")
How can they say talks are “meaningful” when “thorny issues” remain - such as Russia retreating from occupied territory? What the fuck have they agreed on - the color napkins to use at meals during future negotiations? 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1513 "2025-12-31T18:26:44Z")
Any bit of smoke Putin or Zelensky can direct up Trump’s ass is “meaningful”. Neither side is interested in a peace that doesn’t include all of their pre-war objectives. The only meaningful objective is to keep Trump (and, alas, the US) from favoring the other side. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1514 "2025-12-31T21:10:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > attributed to Alexander Solzhenitsyn If only Trump could read, Solzhenitsyn might be a good start. Orwell’s 1984 might unfortunately give him grandious plans. And god, please, no-one tell him of Huxley"s Brave New World. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2026, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1515 "2026-01-01T13:37:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And why would anyone be angry about that, or why would Kyiv deny it if true? Taking out Putin, if possible, would probably be the least-bloody way possible to end the war. He’s a perfectly legitimate target. Because this is Europe, where killing other heads of state is Against the Rules. It’s a principal that dates back to when they were all each others’ cousins: kill as many commoners as you like, but don’t touch the royalty. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2026, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1516 "2026-01-01T13:57:36Z")
Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2026, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1517 "2026-01-01T14:03:18Z")
1000 years of history? Obviously, there are no written “rules” on the matter. My impression, though, based on my reading of European history, is that European rulers have always avoided killing other European rulers if they could help it. They’d much rather take them hostage, ransom them, or at worse exile them. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2026, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1518 "2026-01-02T02:00:59Z")
I think it’s more about doing it when there are so called peace negotiations on going. Ukraine targeting Putin undermines Trump’s efforts to broker peace. Or it would do if Ukraine had actually attempted to do that, which it seems clear they did not. The irony is that Putin being alive is probably the main barrier to peace. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2026, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1519 "2026-01-02T02:44:59Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Or it would do if Ukraine had actually attempted to do that, which it seems clear they did not. And if Trump had ever attempted to broker peace, which it also seems clear he did not. And European rulers didn’t try to kill each other back when they were all related, but I don’t think that’s particularly relevant, given that they’re now not related. I don’t think that anyone would have flinched from taking out Hitler or Mussolini, for instance, given the chance. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2026, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1520 "2026-01-02T09:58:52Z")
The nazis killed **[Engelbert Dollfuss,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engelbert_Dollfuss)** the Austrian chancellor, before the Anschluss 1934. But the nazis don’t count, I guess. Stalin killed Trotzki and everybody else he could get away with. Israel will kill any Iranian or Palestinian leader they can get. Of course, Palestina is not a state they recognize, so it does not count, like Trotzki did not count for Stalin. He was not really a head of state. Plus ça change, right, Vladimir? And Iran, well, I have forgotten the excuse, but I can imagine someone in this board will be delighted to enlighten me. BTW: Israel is European when it suits them. The USA (not European, but Western enough for me, used to be a shining city on the hill until recently) killed numerous foreign leaders: **[Salvador Allende](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Allende)**, **[Patrice Lumumba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Lumumba)** come to mind, and Fidel Castro only survived because the CIA was incredibly incompetent. What, the CIA is not the government? Yes, how could I forget this. I think I better stop before this becomes a hijack. Just wanted to point out tha @Alessan 's cite (an impression based on his reading) is extremely weak. I am not convinced. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2026, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1521 "2026-01-02T11:47:17Z")
So apparently the Ukrainians pulled a fast one on Russia and netted a nice chunk of change by pretending that one of their most well-known leaders was dead, collecting the bounty on his head and exposing the people who put it there. > **[Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv’s GUR ‘faked Russian-ordered killing and bagged...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/02/ukraine-war-briefing-kyivs-gur-faked-russian-ordered-killing-and-bagged-500k-kremlin-reward)** > > ‘I congratulate you on returning to life’ says spy chief Budanov to Denis Kapustin, commander of a Russian unit fighting on the Ukrainian side. What we know on day 1,409 ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1522 "2026-01-02T13:14:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t think that anyone would have flinched from taking out Hitler or Mussolini, for instance, given the chance. Pretty sure the British had multiple opportunities to take out Hitler and they decided not to each time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349.md?page=75) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349.md?page=77)