# 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:** 86
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2026, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1703 "2026-05-24T06:34:51Z")
[Russia are using drones to hunt down individuals](https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/in-northern-ukraine-it-was-boy-versus-russian-drone-the-boy-won-20260516-p5zxqr.html?utm_source=smh-web&utm_medium=share_article&utm_campaign=world&utm_content=subscriber+alldigital&utm_term=product_feature) - not just military but civilians, for terror purposes. They trails optic fibres up to 20km long so they can’t be jammed. Story above details how one was hunting a boy and his family, he managed to grab and break the fibre disabling the drone. So they are absolutely suitable for assassinations, flying nap of the earth to the 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:** [May 25, 2026, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1704 "2026-05-25T11:05:56Z")
Just another way that Russia is psychologically spreading the war around the area to noncombatants. I guess they’re trying to strain relations between Ukraine and other countries. > **[Estonia says Nato jet shot down drone over its territory](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c302jy8z4vro)** > > Estonia suspects the drone was a Ukrainian projectile knocked off course by Russian electronic jamming. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1705 "2026-05-25T13:53:17Z")
The nature of jamming is that it’s a lot easier to confuse a receiver into having no idea where it is, than it is to confuse a receiver into thinking it’s specifically [here] when it’s really [there]. IOW, the Russians can fairly easily cause a a Ukrainian drone to be lost and wandering aimlessly. The cannot easily direct it specifically into Estonian territory. They might have. But IMO that’s not the way to bet. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1706 "2026-05-25T14:40:49Z")
Agreed, but even a small disruption can be useful. "Earlier this month, two Ukrainian drones hit an empty oil storage site in Latvia. Ukraine said this was the result of electronic jamming by Russia. A similar incursion was reported by Estonia and Latvia in March." ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1707 "2026-05-25T14:56:38Z")
For sure anyone who lives adjacent to a shooting war is unhappy about spillover effects. Whether it’s refugees, black marketing, loss of black marketing, or stray munitions. In this case I think it’s safe to say that no matter whose name is on the munition, _all_ the neighbors blame Russia for _all_ of the spillover effects. Hardening the resolve of the folks you might wish to invade next is not actually a smart play. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2026, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1708 "2026-05-25T15:43:41Z")
Is this going to be a repeat of the Eighty Years War between the Netherlands and Hapsburg Spain? Or does modern industrial war have built-in limitations that just can’t go beyond six years at most? ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1709 "2026-05-25T15:52:48Z")
We’ve sort of moved that part of the discussion over here: > [@Russia - Ukraine: end of war predictions](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-ukraine-end-of-war-predictions/1030002): > > I predict that the combat phase of the Russo-Ukrainian war will end this year. Why? Several reasons increase the likelihood: Russia has lost the vast majority of their pre-war stockpile of Soviet armored vehicles. We can confirm this through a combination of satellite imagery of Soviet mothball storage sites and confirmed drone kills via video footage. Tanks and APCs haven’t yet been completely rendered obsolete by drones. They do still have a role to play in transporting troops to battle are… I’ve quoted you and responded there ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1710 "2026-05-25T16:49:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > IOW, the Russians can fairly easily cause a a Ukrainian drone to be lost and wandering aimlessly. The cannot easily direct it specifically into Estonian territory. They could, however, focus their efforts on confusing drones close to other countries’ territories, in the hopes that some of them will randomly wander over the border. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1711 "2026-05-29T05:47:54Z")
> **[Russian drone crashes into Romanian apartments, wounding two people and...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/29/russian-drone-romanian-apartments-wounding-two-people-and-starting-fire?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other)** > > Romanian authorities say a Russian drone that was part of an overnight attack on Ukraine crashed into an apartment building in eastern Romania ---
**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:** [May 29, 2026, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1712 "2026-05-29T06:01:21Z")
Year 4 and still itching for Article 5 to be invoked… ---
**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:** [May 29, 2026, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1713 "2026-05-29T23:05:32Z")
Why? That would just cost more lives. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1714 "2026-05-29T23:10:08Z")
Letting the war drag on is costing more lives, too. The faster this ends, the better. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2026, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1715 "2026-05-30T15:16:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Letting the war drag on is costing more lives, too. How many lives have been lost in attacks on neighboring NATO countries during this conflict? Article 5 doesn’t apply to Ukraine or Russia. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1716 "2026-05-30T16:00:53Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > How many lives have been lost in attacks on neighboring NATO countries during this conflict? Article 5 doesn’t apply to Ukraine or Russia. I think I remember a story about some farmer in Moldova getting hit by a stray missile back in the early days of the war. But even if my recollection is correct, Moldova isn’t in NATO. As far as I recall, there hasn’t been any loss of lives in NATO countries due to the war (excluding any NATO citizens that went as mercenaries and ended up dying in Russia or Ukraine). ---
**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:** [June 11, 2026, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1717 "2026-06-11T14:29:32Z")
In case anyone was wondering who’s behind the ongoing mysterious GPS outages affecting the northern hemisphere: > **[Russian satellites linked to mysterious GPS disruptions across several countries](https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-russian-satellites-linked-mysterious-gps.html)** > > Since 2019, GPS signals across Europe, Greenland and Canada have experienced a huge spike in sudden, widespread signal blackouts. These have resulted in disruptions and degraded performance in navigation systems that airplanes and ships rely on to... ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1718 "2026-06-11T16:07:47Z")
Veritasium has posted this video that goes into a lot of detail. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tz23G_UXCGA/maxresdefault.jpg "Something is jamming GPS over Europe. Here's what we found") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz23G_UXCGA) ---
**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:** [June 15, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1719 "2026-06-15T17:40:55Z")
Not sure where else to post this, but in some not completely surprising news, the BBC has found that Russia has been paying people to commit crimes and sow division in the UK. The part about Kier Starmer may be the headline but much more insidious in my opinion is the campaign to spread far right propaganda going as far as to found a far right group, paying people to spread anti-Muslim hate speech and vandalize mosques. At the same time the same Russian operatives were whipping up radical Islamic hatred and encouraging jihad. I’ve no doubt this is also going on in other countries that Russia regards as its enemy. > The group sought to appear as an organic British creation. But we found that Direct Action was created online by Russian operatives to cause division among ordinary people in the UK. > > … > > In London, six mosques and an Islamic school were vandalised last year after the group offered payment for Islamophobic graffiti. > > Slogans such as “remigration” and “Stop Islam” were spray-painted on mosques from Croydon in the south of the capital to Leyton in the east. > Before EL began running fake far-right groups, he helped to create a bogus Islamic organisation called the Takbir Foundation. > > … > > The foundation sought to recruit Muslims to spray-paint “sacred graffiti” in the UK. But its real goal was obvious: to inflame the far right with this vandalism. Telegram accounts that pretended to be those of devout Muslims later switched seamlessly to an aggressive anti-Islam agenda with Direct Action. > > In a Telegram group for Muslims, another account called “El” posted that the “Takbir Foundation is dedicated to financially supporting jihad throughout England. O mujahideen, be courageous and extend your hand towards the coming caliphate.” > > The foundation offered up to £150 for graffiti in one location and said: “this is halal money to promote the word of Allah”. > **[Russia was behind arson attacks targeting PM, BBC reveals](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8r2l352z2do)** > > Evidence shows Russians directing the plot and stoking tensions with fake far-right and Muslim groups. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1720 "2026-06-16T18:47:22Z")
And today a Russian frigate has fired warning shots in the Channel against a yacht that “came too close”. > **[Russian frigate fires warning shots at British yacht in Channel](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/16/russian-frigate-fires-warning-shots-at-british-yacht-in-channel-reports)** > > Shots fired within 500 metres of vessel near Isle of Wight amid heightened tensions between London and Moscow From the link: > Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said the incident was “very concerning” and the UK should “be in no doubt that Russia poses a direct threat”. > > Liberal Democrat defence spokesman James MacClearly said: “Reports of a Russian warship firing warning shots in the English Channel are deeply concerning. > > “Russia is quite literally on our doorstep. Aggression and intimidation in our waters must not be tolerated.” ---
**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:** [June 16, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1721 "2026-06-16T19:45:41Z")
Wait, is Putin seriously trying to escalate, right now? I’m having a hard time imagining any mental state that would make that sound like a good idea. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349/1722 "2026-06-16T19:51:10Z")
Some say he is trying to stop the Brits (or anyone else) from **[seizing more Russian shadow fleet tankers](https://www.dw.com/en/uk-seizes-suspected-russian-shadow-fleet-tanker/a-77545832)**. He really needs the money. Others say he is losing it (and the war), and that is when he becomes even more dangerous. I don’t know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349.md?page=85) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-the-regional-situation/995349.md?page=87)