"Here we have americans, saying Russian army is shit, this is funny, coming from country who was defeated by Canada in 1812."

That isn't really an argument.

Following this logic I could easily say:

Here we have a Russian who praises his country armed forces, this is funny coming from a country who was defeated in 1612 by Poland (Poles took Moscow and not by treachery like Russians like to call it but by defeating Russian forces) and again in 1920 and who can't even defeat a third world country like Afghanistan. (Russia did loose there)

The debate should be can Russia defeat Poland? (I don't have doubts that she can :P) America is obviously way out of their league!!!

See? It's very simple. If you want to start a debate submit some real arguments.

Like for example America's Army is fully a professional Army where Russia depends mainly on conscripts.

Yes I agree with you completely that one just can not omit the sacrifice and the losses that Russia suffer due to the war with Germany. It's disgraceful to all the people who fought and died in that war.

But...such great losses had reason. And that reason was Stalin and his new strain of commanders. The Winter War (Russia vs Finland) was a prelude what will happen if the Germans attack. The Russian body count in Winter War was over 126 thousand dead and on the Finish side only over 25 thousand. Stalin was a paranoid guy and because of that he in 1937 he made that officer purge of his. And the new officers had learnt by doing which cost a lot of Russian lives. The same thing happen when Germans executed their Barbarossa plan. Russian officers was unprepared for it. And it was a surprise for Stalin. Yes he did expect Hitler to attack. He did prepare for it. But he didn't think it would be so soon. (In the end Germany was still fighting UK on the west front) A lot of losses on the Russian side was due to their commanding policy. Attack the Germans head on and if you'll retreat you will be shot by the NKVD officers as a traitor. I'm generalizing of course which isn't fair but this seemed to be one of Russian main military doctrines. Germans had advantage in technology, skilled officers, better trained soldiers and such. And Russia had advantage in numbers and production capabilities. There are even examples from the battlefields when Russian tanks T-34 rammed German Tigers destroying both in the process cause Russians could produce more T-34 relatively quick and replacing a Tiger wasn't so easy. There is also an anecdote about general Zukov when he encountered a mine field. He had to move through it quickly so in a way of "swiping" the mines he sent the infantry first. So such a big losses on Russian side (not counting the atrocities committed by the Germans) were the result of tragic commanding skills.

About the issue... Was Russia on the brink of defeat? Yes and No. Russia was saved by the arrogance of the German commanders. (and of course the bravery of Russian soldiers but if not for the German mistakes that could have be not enough) The attack started on 22 of June 1941. German commanders predicted that Moscow will taken even before the winter. So the German soldiers weren't equipped with winter uniforms the vehicles didn't have suitable equipment for winter and such. Furthermore Germans made a lot of logistics mistakes. The fall of that year was a very wet one. And that part of the ZSRR didn't have very good roads so the vehicles sunk in mud stopping the blitzkrieg machine. When the Winter struck resupplying the troops turned out to be another problem. Long supply lines and guerrilla actions in the occupied territories made it even worse. Hitler was stopped by the same thing Napoleon was stopped. Harsh Russian winter. If Russian situation was more similar to Polish situation in 1939 when the fall was one of the driest falls in that period. If such situation would to happen in 1941 Russians would have more problems. When the winter halted the blitzkrieg machine Russians had the time to regroup, resupply and replenish their forces. The turning point were of course the battle for Stalingrad in which the Stalin's policy to hold the city for all cost were similar to the battles of world war 1. But even after their first mistakes Germans made another. Like buidling bigger, stronger, more complex and more expensive tanks. Which took a lot of time to manufacture while the T-34 which I already spoken about were more simpler and faster to build. Maybe less effective, but the their true strength was in numbers. To sum up. Russian military forces wasn't ready for the blow that came from the Germans. For example until the 5th of December of 1941 German losses were about 800 thousand and Russian losses are estimated around 3.5 - 4.5 mln. But because of the German mistakes and arrogance Russia had a some time to breath and when the defense plans kicked in. Russians found the strength and resources to repel the Germans and chase them back to Berlin.

About the first link you gave Zakoljov:

You must understand that western europe feared Stalin more than Hitler, a lot more. To understand that we must go back to 1919-1920 when the Soviet Army invaded it's western neighbors including Poland. The Army led by Stalin (as one of the commanders) Conquered country after country which just emerged after the end of the World War I. Ukraine, Lithuania it all fell to the Soviet occupation Poland was to be next. And would the Soviet army stop then? Probably not. Germany was in utter chaos. Problems with the economy, inflation, politicians and such. If Soviet army would enter German territory with the promises to free the German proletariat from the oppression of the capitalistic pigs there were a real danger that soviet army would find a strong support in the working class of the Germany. And that was the thing western Europe feared the most. Communist revolution. Some commanders in Britain before the war even saw Hitler as the only force that could save Europe from the Soviets. And if not for the Poles who utterly kicked soviets butts in 1920 and chase them into their precious motherland who knows what could happen. But then Poland and Russia was on the same technology level and Polish fighting spirit (and the intelligence who was able to intercept Soviet orders) proved much more valuable than numbers. Stalin never forgave Poles this defeat and felt real hatred for them. (Which he presented for example in 1944 when a Warsaw Insurgence were fighting German forces, Stalin ordered his forces to a full stop. The Soviet forces stood on the other side of the river and waited for the fall of the uprising. Stalin even forbid the landing of allied supply planes on his airports) Now Imagine that one million of Soviet troops attacks Hitler from the east and French-Britain forces from the west. Do you imagine that Stalin would than give away the territories of Germany that his troops conquered. Not likely. Communists then would gain strong communist foothold in western Europe. And what about Poland? Would Stalin leave it alone too? Again not likely. French and UK didn't want such grim scenario to happen.

"Russia alone did not posses the power to defeat hitler, not yet. " I agree 100%. The ribbentrop-molotov pact was in that situation a logical thing to do. But...

On 17 of September 1939 Soviets in a backstabbing act invaded Poland from the East. At that point over 90% of Polish forces were fighting the Germans. Soviets proclaimed that there entering the Polish territory to "protect" in reality - Soviets cut off the Poles from a territory where they could have regrouped. Poles would not defeat German forces but the war in Poland would last a lot longer. Even after the Soviet invasion the last of the Polish forces didn't surrender until the second half of October. It would give the French and British time to think what are they really want to do with Hitler. And maybe they would move their asses. Hitler in secrecy moved all of his heavy equipment from the border with France and sent it to Poland. In other words. His butt was naked and if then French would invade him. Germany would be in a lot of trouble.

Returning to the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. The soviet "protection" wasn't so much better from the German occupation. For example people had to exchange money. The exchange was 1 polish mark for 1 ruble which was just a common thievery cause the polish mark stood a lot higher than ruble. In the process many people were left without sources to live. The Polish Soldiers that was retreating to regroup or tried to flee the country to fight in French and British Army were taken prisoner and send to labor camps or worse. In the Katyn Forest almost 20 thousand polish officers and 7 thousand Ukrainians and Belorussians were murdered and buried in a mass grave. The murder was uncovered in 1943 by the Germans and Stalin of course blamed Hitler for it. When the investigation of the red cross revealed that he was lying he broke off the diplomatic relations with Polish government in London. Russia to this day refuse to recognize the thing for what it truly was. A genocide. So calling Soviet Russia a good guy is an overstatement. The only thing that I can agree to is that Russia took role of an Anti-Hero. Don't forget that in 30 November of 1939 Soviet Russia invaded Finland. The attack was judged to be illegal and for that Russia was expelled from the League of Nations. Of course Stalin was afraid that when Germans attack Russia, Finland may become a good base to strike from. So he invaded it to prevent it. That only shows that the saying the goal justifies the means was one of his favorite. Even if he had took away another nations freedom he would do it. So Soviet Russia wasn't anything near a good guy.