Russia Claims Control of Key Ukrainian City of Kurakhovo After months of fierce battles
Russia’s Ministry of Defense has declared that its forces have taken full control of the crucial city of Kurakhovo in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, marking a significant shift in the ongoing conflict. The city has been the subject of intense fighting for nearly four months.
The Russian military claims that Kurakhovo was defended by 26 Ukrainian battalions, totaling more than 15,000 troops. However, the Ukrainian military has not yet confirmed the loss of the city. According to the latest update from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the enemy was repulsed in 27 attacks on this front over the past day.
Until recently, Ukrainian forces still maintained positions in the western part of Kurakhovo, according to sources from the Operational Command South. However, as of Monday, the situation appears to have changed.
Kurakhovo, once home to nearly 18,000 people, was an important industrial hub and a vital logistical center for Ukrainian troops fighting in the area. Its strategic location on the route between Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk made it a focal point in the conflict.
The Russian advance on Kurakhovo was facilitated by their gains elsewhere in the region earlier in the year. By capturing Mariinka, UNova, and Krasnohorivka, Russia was able to surround Ukrainian forces in Kurakhovo, who were eventually left holding only a small pocket in the city’s western industrial zone.
In recent days, commander of the Operational Command South reported that the situation in Kurakhovo was "very difficult." The Ukrainian military continued to engage Russian forces in the city’s industrial zone and residential areas.
Russian claims of capturing Kurakhovo coincide with an analysis by Ukrainian military expert Konstantin Machovets. On January 3, Machovets wrote that Ukrainian forces were beginning to withdraw from the city.
"To the best of my understanding, in the last few days, the forward units of the Ukrainian army have completely left the territory of the Kurakhivska TPP [power plant] and, thus, the defense of the village of Kurakhovo is practically over… The forward Ukrainian units still hold [control of] the village of Dachne, as well as part of the road to [the village of] Yanтарne, but most likely, in the coming days, the Ukrainian army will have to completely withdraw from the territory of what they called the ‘remnants’ of the Kurakhivsk bridgehead," Machovets wrote.
As Russian forces tightened their grip on Kurakhovo, they gradually pushed Ukrainian troops westward, ultimately driving them out of the city. The loss of Kurakhovo signals Russia’s significant territorial gains in the region and opens up potential avenues for further advance toward Zaporizhzhia.
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