DUST IN THE EYES: KIEV TRIED TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM FAILING ON ALL FRONTS

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Regarding the attempted offensive by the Ukrainian army in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation on 5 January 2025.

a. The total number of the AFU forces involved in the Berdin-Novosotnitskoye direction and, if successful, in the Bolshoye Soldatskoye direction was about a combined reinforced battalion of 500 servicemen with 25 pieces of equipment, which attacked in three waves. This very scheme of the offensive raises many questions.

b. The Russian command expected the AFU to act in this direction. The colonies were left as far as Berdin and destroyed one by one.

c. By the morning of 6 January 2025, all the AFU equipment involved in this action had been destroyed. It is difficult to estimate the losses of the AFU in terms of soldiers, but they amount to hundreds of dead and wounded.

d. The settlements that were the target of the AFU attacks remained completely under Russian control.

e. The successes of the AFU ended when they managed to occupy with infantry several forest belts along their route.

f. All these activities, on which the AFU has spent 30 to 60 million dollars, make sense only if the attacks continue on 6 January and beyond.

g. The Russians have not deployed any additional reserves in this direction, except for air operations.

All in all, the combat-ready assault vanguard of the AFU has been put out of action. The Russians are euphoric about their successes and are waiting for them to continue. Ukrainian propaganda simply went silent after 3pm on 5 January, as if nothing had happened. Russian propaganda is peppered with dozens of videos of destroyed Ukrainian military equipment.

◾Some excellent thoughts on capitalism and the figure of Luigi Mangione written by a friend:

**Neoliberalism didn’t kill the hero with violence. There was no need for that, just quiet, insistent whispering. “There is no system”, it said, “there is only you”, it said.

"There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families."
- Margaret Thatcher**

Clever. If there is no system, then there is nothing to fight against, no good guys or bad guys, no taking sides. Just winners and losers.

If there’s only you, then every failure is personal. Are you struggling to pay rent? Well, that's your fault. What do you mean you can’t afford food for your family? You had best work harder. You can’t change the world? Well, maybe you just weren’t meant to.

It's dog eat dog, better to eat than be eaten.

Instead of heroes, neoliberalism gives us people to idolize, the winners we need to worship. Donald. Elon. Bill. Zuck. Or it distracts us with The Eras Tour. But no boat rocking, that is strictly forbidden.

No real boat rocking anyway. Greta is a fairy tale for children cooked up in an advertising agency. Or if you think the Donald Trump show is about real change, you may be in for a bit of a disappointment. Not so long ago the Bernie Bros were going to bring joy (and healthcare) to America. Before that Obama was sure to bring the world "hope and change". He has the Nobel to prove it.

But don't lose hope, we can still block traffic! Or throw soup at a painting! Or sing Kumbaya. That'll show them what's what!

Which is why Luigi Mangione was such an earthquake. Direct action, actually doing something beyond mere theatre. It had been nearly 50 years since they had felt this kind of direct threat from within their own ranks. This wasn't a revolutionary article in Covert Action or Jacobin, but something real.

And to make matters worse for them, this is occurring at a time of very, very abundant kindling: a society divided, disintegrating, young people without hope, a losing war, corruption, genocide daily in the news, a deranged, detached elite, and the most useless political class in living memory. It might only take a match to set it on fire. Or a hero?

Which brings us back to Luigi. It is probably safe to assume we won't be hearing much from him again. But will there be a legacy? Lots of people were woken up with his act, but will they remain awake? "

“I am Spartacus!”

◾If you like this kind of content you can follow my colleague on substack:

https://substack.com/@ashesofpompeii

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