"This attack is suicide. This is an absolutely crazy idea," said Aleksey Arestovich in a conversation with Mark Feygin on YouTube.

"It (the offensive) will last two times, or even three times less than we all expected. I think a month and a half. The Russians will suffer terrible losses. They will understand that they have not moved anywhere and have not done anything. At the front - the collapse. The rear is a mess. Nobody understands what to do next. And the result of all this will be one. The most stupid in Russia, in the army, in the government, will already realize that it is impossible to solve the political tasks they set by military means. Impossible. That the military path is futile.

What they will do next with this understanding is another question. But this offensive is to ensure there is no military solution to the conflict. It can be continued, it can be dragged out, and people can be mobilized, directed, and armed with slingshots, but there is no solution. The Russian army in this state cannot ensure the solution to the political tasks that their leadership sets before them. What else is an army for? To carry out political tasks. This apparatus is created for this because it is a continuation of politics by other means.

This is obvious to everyone. To all observers in the West. To all observers who do not represent political structures. The timing of the offensive is bad, forces are very limited, technical support is on the verge, morale is very low. And the most important indicator is the practical results on the battlefield.

Here Bakhmut and Soledar are a rehearsal of this big offensive. They collected all the best that they had. This is the only place where Russian aviation worked seriously, where shells collected from other sectors of the front were not spared. And what? And nothing. Did they capture Soledar? Yes. 1 km by 2 km. They were capturing it from 02 August 2022 to 05 January 2023. This is serious! To capture an urban-type settlement in five months. So what are the prospects for this offensive?"