panzermartin

You made a claim and were asked to back it up. How else should it work?
 
Nobody denied that the pipe wasn't blown as is still intact. Solid facts, as you say. Your conclusion was what was challenged.
But we don't have to. Sorry, but that is the established way of debating and gaining knowledge. The one who makes a claim has to back it up. Not the one who challenges the claim. You can make up your own rules but then please don't expect to be taken seriously.
While your facts are solid, they are not conclusive for the claim you make. For once, it is not Putins pipeline but a Russian-German joint venture.  I am not a conspiracy theorists but my government profited at least as much from the blown pipeline as Russia. In fact Russia didn't really profit much at all. The situation before was much more in their favor because Russia was able to blacknail Germany with gas deliveries and thus divide our society. Giving in to Russian blackmailing was an actually heatedly debated solution at that time.
Sure, I'd still count Russia among the prime suspects just for their demonstrated preference to do things others find unreasonable. I'd even say they are one of the likelier suspects. But they are not the only one and your facts are not suited to shorten that list.
That's a) whataboutism. We were discussing your claim, not someone else's. Your claim doesn't get any more credible by someone else making a claim he doesn't prove. And b) I don't discuss with the Russian public in general, I discuss with specific persons on this forum, so that's not a valid point. But if any Russian came here and made the claim the US were behind the blown pipelines I'd ask him to back up his claim, too.
 
Call me pseudo intellectual, again, but that is yet another rhetoric method aimed at discrediting a person's opinion instead of actually arguing his points. You are constructing a false dilemma here: A position is either fair judgement or pro Russian bias. This is false because obviously there can be a lot in between and also outside of that spectrum (for instance I could just be biased towards my line of argumenatation instead of making a fair judgement and still come to the same conclusion). But this way you make it look like everyone who doesn't share your view must be on the Russian side. Which of course discredits the person without having to deal with their points.

Don't really see the point of the Patton quote posting. Far right people love to post another quote of his that "we fought the wrong enemy", implying that he would rather have allied with the nazis. Guy was a piece of work. In his own words, quoted in Peter Harts The Last Battle, during the American offensive in 1918, Patton thought he killed an American soldier who was shell  shocked, hitting him over the head. Somehow this anecdotal admission of possible manslaughter/murder has been completely forgotten despite the scandal in WW2 when Patton simply slapped a soldier.  This wasn't the only time Patton would inflict violence against soldiers of his own country who fought in the first war, he helped put down with force the Bonus Army that marched to DC to get the benefits they were owed. 
Patton was no hero and isn't worth celebrating.

Hey, we "peacefully" existed 400 years under the ottoman rule after the fall of Istanbul. Not the greatest of time but we are still here 😉 Yeah, there are choices, maybe less honorable. But probably most will not trade their lives for the hardest option. 
Anyway, no need to be so dramatic, we are not there yet... 

Your refreshingly belligerent way of communicating never fails to amaze me.
For your education: It was part of a quote. The full one goes like this, I think:
 

Can we find accurate reliable numbers anymore? I doubt. This could be true in earlier stages but since the summer offensive Ukrainians are losing a lot too. 
Gliding bombs, drones etc have inflicted big damage to their forces, which repeatedly are being cut off in big cauldrons and get hammered until very last minute withdrawal. 
Another hint is that we don't see any mass mobilization from Russia this time yet Ukraine seems rather eager to gather personnel even asking/forcing people to return from abroad. 
Lastly, they keep losing ground every day. Even the little gains of summer offensive in Zaporizhia front. There are also no signs of any new Ukrainian offensive plan, unless it's being prepared in complete darkness for maximum surprise. But it's very unlikely. 

Well, examiming some parts:
Attrition: Russia is winning that part, those of us that has read about the Great Patriatic War, this comes as no surprise.
War production: Russia is winning that part, 30 % of the Russian economy is now war economy, western sanctions has not destroyed the russian economy.
Morale: Ukranian morale is not as good as it was at the start of the war. Fatique is a problem, 6 of 7 russian drones now hit their targets, that used to be 1 out of 7 drones.
Ammunition: Russia is winning that part with their war production, western applause in Munich does not making any 155 mm shells, if Trump wins the election US contribution will almost dissapear, the EU countries really has to step up but how long will that take ? one danish ammunition factory will be ready in .......... two years, that is way to slow.
Combat: the russian army is learning from their mistakes, just as they did in 1941-42-43-44.
I dont like it but there it is.

I get a feeling that whatever territory is being taken by Russia at this stage of the war, will remain to russia for a long time. Kinda like northern Cyprus. I think Ukraine's military peak was at the summer offensive. Can't get better anymore imo. I think now the problem lies not in equipment but in manpower and collective will to continue the fight. 
It will be impossible for Ukraine to gather the mass needed to take back strongholds the way Russia does. Drone harrasment can of course continue infinitely.  I see no end to the attacks on the Black Sea fleet from Ukraine as well. Naval drones will probably continue to harass the russian ships. Unless they think of protective nettings and other measures, that would be a major headache. 
I think we might reach a point the best both sides could achieve would be a cease fire with probably Donbas and Crimea going to Russia. 
 

 

 

Can we find accurate reliable numbers anymore? I doubt. This could be true in earlier stages but since the summer offensive Ukrainians are losing a lot too. 
Gliding bombs, drones etc have inflicted big damage to their forces, which repeatedly are being cut off in big cauldrons and get hammered until very last minute withdrawal. 
Another hint is that we don't see any mass mobilization from Russia this time yet Ukraine seems rather eager to gather personnel even asking/forcing people to return from abroad. 
Lastly, they keep losing ground every day. Even the little gains of summer offensive in Zaporizhia front. There are also no signs of any new Ukrainian offensive plan, unless it's being prepared in complete darkness for maximum surprise. But it's very unlikely. 

I get a feeling that whatever territory is being taken by Russia at this stage of the war, will remain to russia for a long time. Kinda like northern Cyprus. I think Ukraine's military peak was at the summer offensive. Can't get better anymore imo. I think now the problem lies not in equipment but in manpower and collective will to continue the fight. 
It will be impossible for Ukraine to gather the mass needed to take back strongholds the way Russia does. Drone harrasment can of course continue infinitely.  I see no end to the attacks on the Black Sea fleet from Ukraine as well. Naval drones will probably continue to harass the russian ships. Unless they think of protective nettings and other measures, that would be a major headache. 
I think we might reach a point the best both sides could achieve would be a cease fire with probably Donbas and Crimea going to Russia. 
 

 

 

Because if you bunch them up together they get killed faster.  RA got tired of losing entire companies and started using them in 1s and 2s a while back.  The UA appears to be going the same way.  Now in UA case it may be force preservation but it also may be that RA C4ISR has finally started to catch up.
Edit:  just rewatched that video.  So that tank was spotted by the UAS probably 1-2 kms away.  It looks like it took maybe 3-4 rounds to knock it out? That is crazy precision.  When did the RA start hitting like that?
If they had sent 4 tanks into that field there would probably be 4 KO’d tanks.

Very, very criticized text in domestic sphere for lack of fact-checking, dramatic and false analogies and subjective conclusions; he is not a proper analysts with methodology but military commenator for several popular newspapers. Adittionally, suffers greatly from relative lack of Air battles in this war. At least Tom Cooper knew when to turn into ground warfare analysts.;)
Not worth to bother really, Fiszer long time ago flew away, like several other public commentators here; some of them with generals' epoulettes. I seriously pass 80% of them at this moment; they a]re only relatively good at their respective narrow specializations and technicalities. Oterwise they are like those Jewish rabbis from jokes: "This or that will happen, unless it will not happen. Who knows?"

How is everyday life now in your country, are public services, health systems working properly are people struggling more now for the basics after 2 years of war and has this played a significant role in the fatigue? 

On the other hand you might ask the question if someone should be obliged to serve - i.e. die for - his country and probably on a strip of land that means nothing to him just because fate willed it that he was born a) on the wrong side of the border and b) with a Y chromosome.
 

The quality of public services did not have any impact on the morale of Ukrainians. Moreover, this year the situation with electricity supply is much better than last year. Last year at this time I was freezing in a cold apartment without electricity (light was provided once every 4 hours, and this is at best). There is nothing like it now. There is constant electricity, all services work uninterruptedly as in peacetime. 
Last year, even during difficult times, when there was no electricity and there were constant air raids due to missile attacks, there was no panic or depressive mood. Our invincible armed forces have just liberated Kherson, European countries have promised to send us a bunch of tanks, and so on. No one had any doubts about victory
Ukrainians in the rear are now living in what appears to be peacetime mode. If you find yourself in Kyiv now. you won't feel any difference from Berlin or Paris. Ordinary daily life of a peaceful metropolis. Only occasionally does Russia launch a single missile strike or UAV attack. Of course, in Kherson or Slavyansk the situation is completely different. There are daily artillery strikes and gliding bombs. 
 
Therefore, I think that the problem is the information security of the Ukrainian population. Russia is trying to undermine the morale of Ukrainians by all means available, and unfortunately it is succeeding.

https://jp.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-amundi-russia/russias-economic-growth-shows-western-sanctions-ineffective-says-fund-manager-amundis-cio-idUKL8N3CO2U2
 

So this war seems to have strengthen the economy, the nationalistic and militaristic will and the oligarchy of Moscow and they naturally don't see any desire to back down now they are mowing down more and more Ukrainians. Besides ethnic cleansing has never been more welcome internationally, as Gaza and Nagorno have showcased and governments are no longer sensitive of babies dying in  incubators or Ukrainian citizens getting killed by a random bomb in their apartments. It's reaping season again after many years and everyone is rushing to take advantage while it lasts. 
All the other talk we had here was pure wishful thinking. Putin isn't dying of cancer, Russians aren't running out of tech and shells, Russian lines didn't collapse, the invincible Leopards didn't reach the Azov, and let's not talk about Crimea...
I hope somehow sooner or later some half decent leadership (No, I don't mean Trump) emerges from this mess because the people we have now feel like they don't have the situation in hand.
 
 
 
 

So this war seems to have strengthen the economy, the nationalistic and militaristic will and the oligarchy of Moscow and they naturally don't see any desire to back down now they are mowing down more and more Ukrainians. Besides ethnic cleansing has never been more welcome internationally, as Gaza and Nagorno have showcased and governments are no longer sensitive of babies dying in  incubators or Ukrainian citizens getting killed by a random bomb in their apartments. It's reaping season again after many years and everyone is rushing to take advantage while it lasts. 
All the other talk we had here was pure wishful thinking. Putin isn't dying of cancer, Russians aren't running out of tech and shells, Russian lines didn't collapse, the invincible Leopards didn't reach the Azov, and let's not talk about Crimea...
I hope somehow sooner or later some half decent leadership (No, I don't mean Trump) emerges from this mess because the people we have now feel like they don't have the situation in hand.
 
 
 
 

Ok good to know you support laws of war only for agressors and don't care about innocent lives of 'human shield'. You are calling for genocide?
Gazans have babies too you know,  if you see them as humans that is. 

good lord, the conflation begins.  Where completely separate things are falsely tied together for some benefit to the person saying it.  Like 9-11 and saddam hussein.  
But on a more UKR centric point, related to the tactics post above.  It seems RU digs in and  fights for every meter of tree line and can generate plenty of ~untrained mobiks to man the dugouts.  UKR is RU attriting men, material, and vehicles at a high rate but just the slow grind of digging rats out of holes is soooooo slow.  A whole summer campaign season and they've moved ~15-20km at best.  The pace has picked up a little but really this whole thing is still looking like RU made a pretty good bet on their defenses.  
I am not calling it defeat or failure, but it does say this is gonna take a long time.  And over time anything can happen.  bad things or good things.

I think you are giving Russia way too much credit here. Sure, Russia wants us to believe they have a hand in everything. But in reality people are quite capable of doing stupid things or things that are in Russia's interest without being paid by Putin or swayed by propaganda. And then, of course, people just do things that are in their own self-interest that just happen to align with Russia's interest. IMHO, ascribing everything to Russian manipulation makes them bigger than they are (which is also in Russia's interest) and prevents analysing the what the real motives are.

Allegiately an aide to an AfD MP. Not really surprising as AfD is pretty Putin friendly and members of AfD have been visiting Moscow regularly.
It should be mentioned that they are not in power anywhere except some backwater county.
@Haiduk since you complained about "leftist" organizations, I think this should serve as a reminder that it is often the far right that supports Putin - AfD, Orban, Le Pen, Trump, ...

Not sure who is winning at the moment....But for me Russia showed great tenacity and character when after the first months of  shocking losses, abysmal performance, units simply abandoning shining expensive equipment and an unrealistic plan of conquering Ukraine with 200k men and bad intellgence, managed to bite back and hold the line so far against practically the support of 40 NATO countries and a total western blackout on their economy. That was a blow that would break any country to pieces.
Russia was ridiculed, for its drunk tank drivers, the washing machine looters, the Moskva fiasco, the javelin cope cages, the dodgy weapons from the 50s and so on...Yet it now casually destroys Leo2s and Bradleys in perfect killing zones, has now the edge on drone warfare and Electronic warfare and its industry is working 24h round the clock fully adapting to the urgency of the situation. Russia has not commited yet the bulk of their 140 million population, people home are not much affected by the war and a good part of its losses are tens of thousands of convicts and poor minorities in contrast with Ukraine that is offering the core of their male population. More importantly, Russia enjoys a vast superiority in air support that is still important to dominate a battlefield and make a wider offensive succesfull. Ukraine seems better in ISR, precision and small infantry unit action but these alone cant dominate the front. Ukraine lacks the critical mass to push Russia out any time soon imo. And the western support coming in small waves and pieces ends up getting destroyed in small waves and pieces instead of decisevely altering the balance at once. 
 The next phase could be a full NATO intervention that Russia can't cope with, but I'm not sure whether this would be a positive escalation for anyone. 
 

Not sure who is winning at the moment....But for me Russia showed great tenacity and character when after the first months of  shocking losses, abysmal performance, units simply abandoning shining expensive equipment and an unrealistic plan of conquering Ukraine with 200k men and bad intellgence, managed to bite back and hold the line so far against practically the support of 40 NATO countries and a total western blackout on their economy. That was a blow that would break any country to pieces.
Russia was ridiculed, for its drunk tank drivers, the washing machine looters, the Moskva fiasco, the javelin cope cages, the dodgy weapons from the 50s and so on...Yet it now casually destroys Leo2s and Bradleys in perfect killing zones, has now the edge on drone warfare and Electronic warfare and its industry is working 24h round the clock fully adapting to the urgency of the situation. Russia has not commited yet the bulk of their 140 million population, people home are not much affected by the war and a good part of its losses are tens of thousands of convicts and poor minorities in contrast with Ukraine that is offering the core of their male population. More importantly, Russia enjoys a vast superiority in air support that is still important to dominate a battlefield and make a wider offensive succesfull. Ukraine seems better in ISR, precision and small infantry unit action but these alone cant dominate the front. Ukraine lacks the critical mass to push Russia out any time soon imo. And the western support coming in small waves and pieces ends up getting destroyed in small waves and pieces instead of decisevely altering the balance at once. 
 The next phase could be a full NATO intervention that Russia can't cope with, but I'm not sure whether this would be a positive escalation for anyone. 
 

A little Naval action against Russian shipping and naval/air defences? Against their most economically important city? It would be war. 
Article 5 is a simple construct but the threshold to passing it (not causing or call for a vote) is pretty high,  both overtly and unspoken. 
NATO, as a political entity of very disparate nations, is highly averse to major expeditionary war with open-ended consequences for the home nations. Afghanistan was safely beyond the geopolitical horizon. It was also a clear cut case for Article 5. Balkans and Libya were theater-limited with zero ability to counterstrike NATO beyond their immediate borders. 
Russia,  for all its fumbles,  faults and failures,  is an entirely different beast. 
Finally, a clear NATO attack, without an unequivocal Russian cause, would shore up Putin's regime in a day.
 

Its that period between any sort of noticeable operational movement where the thread goes full schizo

What some posters need to do is ask themselves whether they have anything useful to add to the conversation and avoid posting fan fic about striking civilian columns.