The announcement by the Russian Ministry of Defense that its forces had full control of the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka represents a devastating blow to Ukraine and, almost certainly, a decisive turning point in the war.

The complete failure of the much-hyped Ukrainian counter-offensive has opened a chorus of mutual recriminations within Ukraine and between Kyiv and its imperialist puppet masters. Funding for the proxy war against Russia is drying up in Washington, Brussels and Berlin, and so western imperialism is now pushing Zelensky into a course of action which he is resisting as it spells his political (and perhaps physical) death: peace talks with Putin.

A month after the Israeli government commenced its ethnic cleansing against Palestinians, the Organisation of Port Dockers of Barcelona, ​​has resolved “not to allow the activity of ships in our port that contain war material”. The USTP also took the same decision on 8 November.

From the International Marxist Tendency, we fully support the workers who have decided to take decisive action against the slaughter. This is the way forward.

If the meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies in India was intended as a show of unity against Russia, it succeeded in producing precisely the opposite result.

The failure of Ukraine’s counter-offensive has brought to the fore all the contradictions in the Ukrainian war effort. Disaffection is spreading in the army and among civilians. At the same time, Ukraine’s western allies are getting cold feet and starting to talk about negotiations.

When the news of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s demise hit the headlines last week, the usual pundits appeared on our television screens with the alacrity of a flock of vultures, anxious to pick over the bones of a dead animal in the African savannah.

An unprecedented number of wildfires have set Europe alight in the past month. Nine Mediterranean countries have been hit, leading to many people losing their homes and even their lives. These are the deadly consequences of capitalism’s climate catastrophe.

The prominent Russian left-wing intellectual and academic Boris Kagarlitsky was detained by the Russian security services FSB on July 25, on the basis of a criminal investigation against him for “justifying terrorism”. He was transferred to Syktyvkar, the capital of the Komi Republic, where a tribunal decreed his preventative arrest. He can be held until September 24.

The murder of Nahel M (a 17-year-old French-Algerian) by a police officer in Nanterre on Tuesday morning has sparked a powerful wave of indignation and anger across the country. Riots and enraged protests have rocked Paris for two nights running, where a reported 2,000 security personnel have been deployed. Protests are now spreading beyond the capital.

The events of the last weekend in Russia have given rise to all sorts of speculation. The motivation behind the actions of the different actors is shrouded in mystery, but these events reveal something about the character of Russia’s war in Ukraine and of Putin’s regime itself.