Sarjen

Well EU had to make itself dependent on someone, at least until we could get enough renewable energy up and running and gas was supposed to be at least not as bad as oil or coal. So, Russia and the US were candidates.
Now, you really have to understand just how much trust both George W. Bush and Donald Trump shattered over here. During G.W. Bush's presidency German chancellor Schröder laid the foundations for our even further commitment to Russian gas. And Mr. Trump openly tried to blackmail the EU. Several times. Up until now, while everyone knew that Putin is far from being the "Flawless Democrat" former Chancellor Schröder once called him, he never tried that (with the EU). Also worth mentioning (something that came up over here quite often), the Soviet Union and later Russia was always a reliable supplier. Did we trust Putin? Not really. Trump & Co showed us, however, that the USA also were far from being the reliable partner they supposedly used to be.
Personally, I still have trouble believing that the USA support Ukraine because they are a democracy defending western values and not because Ukraine is of geostrategic interest against one the (at least nuclear) superpowers undermining US dominance.
Last but not least. At least German foreign policies was based on Change through Trade. It worked rather well back in the 70s and 80s and so somehow we tricked ourselves into thinking that through trade we could slowly kind of change the autocratic countries around the world towards our values. And also make money while we are at it...

Obviously NATO budgets need to increase so that future versions of CM will have more gear for us to play with.  Why else?

My fear for a long time has been that our societies are completely infiltrated by moles, traitors and bought politicians, at an unprecedented scale. It will be very hard to flush them out. The new God nowadays is money and a lot of people are for sale.

Nope, you are wrong. NATO will defend all it's members, including the Baltic states. If Ukraine would have been a NATO member, NATO would have gone to war. Period. The fact that NATO isn't 'ready' is no matter in that respect. NATO will and can fight AND WIN if necessary. Although I emotionally understand you and would like to see military action from NATO, I rationally know that it's the right decision not to intervene military.
I also resent your remark about 'the little indirect help NATO provides'. NATO is doing all it can, except going to war. It's sending impressive arms deliveries and does everything to weaken the Russian war economy. Even if NATO was fully prepared for an offensive ground war, it would be extremly dangerous to do so and risk a nuclear escalation.
Apart from that NATO/EU is doing all it can to help the millions Ukrainians who are fleeing their country. And the West is risking it's economy in order to discourage and punish Putin for his aggression.
Again, I understand your emotions, but a little gratitude towards your only friends is in order.

That's kinda my point.  Anyone can make a claim to Ukraine, and it's all totally irrelevant to what's happening now because it's all just a pretense for a violent land grab.  F-ing Mongolia once ruled Ukraine also.  None of this matters.  I am not some dumbf-k just off the turnip truck.  My point is that this is all completely and utterly beside the point.  The vast majority of Ukraine doesn't want Russian rule, and are willing to risk death to avoid it.  Putin initiated a violent overthrow of 30-year established Ukrainian sovereignity, and what happend 70, 100, or 400 years is all just piss in the wind relative to that.

At the rate the war is going....

Give John Kettler some respect.
He is a CM legend - you loudmouths don't own this forum and you haven't earned the right to slag off at him.

Hey all, there's so many posts that it's easy for someone to miss something.  So there's some duplication.  But multiple posts duplicating complaints about multiple posts then me saying let's not worry about posts about multiple posts takes up more space than simply ignoring multiple posts and posts about posts about complaining about multiple posts. 

Currently a vehicle of the Bundeswehre is considered not operational if a turn signal is not working because every vehicle has to comply with the rules of the civil Road Traffic Licensing Regulation, the so called Straßenverkehrsordnung.

This; when I saw the RPG gunner heading back to the same spot I was mentally shouting, 'noooo, he will  have rotated his turret, he will see you easily.'  CMBS would appear to be a harder teacher than the  Marshal Rodion Malinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy.

This visual guide to the first ten days of the war is illustrated through videos recorded by ordinary people, and verified by @Cen4infoRes – an independent, volunteer-led organisation set up to combat disinformation
Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map by Cen4infoRes · MapHub

My rational mind thinks you are quite right, Bulletpoint! 
But I am completely enraged at this and am tired of cowering from despots who use the "watch out, I'm craaaaaaazy!" threat to intimidate others.  So I want a safe zone declared in western Ukraine, protected by NATO land and air forces (I think this is not an insane idea).  And I want US drones to start attacking Russian columns (this might be insane).

wow, what amazing coverage of this war.  Definitely better than anywhere else. 
So, what does Putin know?  does he see these videos of entire columns captured, mostly intact?  Does he know that all that fancy equipment that parades past him in Moscow doesn't actually exist in the field?  My point is that he might actually only be hearing what he wants to hear.  When upper management (in this case, Putin), trains an organization over years that he wants to hear good news, that's what will be provided.  So does he actually have a realistic idea of what's going on?  I am sure he does at home level, but does he see these videos? 
On the fighting side of things, it seems that while russians advance along main roads, their supply/support tails are being attacked since the advance bypasses so much terrain.  So the russians don't have enough troops to both advance and to actually pacify the areas they advance through.  Meanwhile, the Ukrainians are getting nicely supplied by taking all the stuff that's supposed to feed the enemy advance.  This is amazing.  And it works because the Ukrainians aren't giving up once their area has bad guys driving through it, as would normally be the case for most people.
And so now he bans facebook, et al, in desperate attempt to keep folks in the dark.  But anyone w half a brain would know that doing this means Putin is covering something up.  So here's to hoping there's a lot of folks w more than half a brain.

Of course, And false video of our General Staff with Turkish TB2 strikes as if Ukrainian is the confirmation. I suppose, somebody ass got kicked and such stuff will be impossible in future.  

We have Igla and Igla-1 on armament, not old Strela 2/3, and they can hit aerial targets on minimal height in 10 m
Thanks for support! My familiar now in Krakow and tell my the same
Jesche Polska nie zginela ! (sorry, I havn't installed Polish keybord to write proper letters  )

Hey guys, you managed to lure out another long time reader only.
First of, I want to thank you for all the insights and explanations! Very informative. Currently, I am still a bit worried that MR Putin and his Gang have much bigger goals and don't hesitate to throw nukes around, but only time will tell. So far, the bundeswehr isn't ready.
In the German defense podcast "Sicherheitspod" that is released monthly by members of the European Council on Foreign Relations, the university of the bundeswehr in Munich and a German journalist specialized on defense, one guy said that of the 100 billion Euros 30-40 billion are needed to get basic supplies like ammo, plate carriers and other stuff in order to achieve the NATO goal of a 30 day war stockpile of supply, so that rules out a short term NATO intervention.
Regarding the shot down pilot. The guy who is alive looks to be a bit out of shape. You have to wonder how he is able to sustain high g maneuvers.
I am also wondering why the Russians still field all the different T- series tanks that put extra pressure on the logistics. If i was in charge, I would have gradually replaced especially the T80s with upgraded t72 tanks and put more money into crew training or logistics 😀
To all you guys directly involved i wish you all the best. Stay save!

Finally was able to catch up in this thread.
First and foremost I would like to wish every forum member affected by the war all the strength, courage and hope in this awful time! Especially to our Ukranian friends! Slava Ukraine! 
Thanks everyone for contributing. It has been a total surreal experience to be able to see news popping up in this thread often well before mainstream media picked up on it.
Also thanks to this great community to keep sharing the extensive knowledge that’s been on display here while also keeping the discussion on topic, free from slander, attacks on each other and trolling (at least it never escalated). It goes to show how excellent and mature this community is.
I have little military knowledge to inject into the conversation, but I wanted to add the above to show my respect.
Let’s hope the war will end sooner rather than later and we can all go back to playing games instead.

This has always been the Russian way of waging war. Blundering their way through with masses of troops and material. But they usually achieve their goals. And they will learn from this. WW2 began for  them with Suomussalmi, but ended in Berlin. Personally I don't underestimate the stamina and strength of  the Russian army. That sort of wishful thinking brought us here. One look at the map shows that there's little to be optimistic about. The Russian home front isn't nearly as divided as we hope either.
Apart from that they can station Putins mother and her dog on the border with NATO and send the entire army to Ukraine, since they know that we won't dare to make one step forward.

check ebay, you might find one

I don't 'get' bombing civilians either. 
But never give the enemy the victory of lowering yourself to their level (or beyond).

So been tracking this daily, now that we are in Day 9.  I do not post my resume, largely because most people would not believe it if I did, so take what I say -as with everything else these days- with a good dose of salt.  But in my professional opinion I would sum up the Russian performance thus far as:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FM811OdXIAQG3qz?format=jpg&name=medium

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FM811OdXIAQG3qz?format=jpg&name=medium