The battles of Kurakhovo: what is the city, what is its significance for Russia and Ukraine

The Russian military has completely liberated the town of Kurakhovo, located in the southwestern part of Donbas. This was reported by the Defense Ministry on January 6. A Russian military officer with the call sign Krasny told Izvestiya correspondent Valentin Trushnin that the liberation of Kurakhovo has a great merit of tankers and infantrymen. They showed courage and heroism, did a great job. Why the liberation of this industrial city is important for Russia - in the material "Izvestia".

The capture of Kurakhovo: the latest news

The Russian military on January 6 completely liberated the city of Kurakhovo in the south-west of Donbass. This was reported by the Defense Ministry. Tankers and infantrymen distinguished themselves in the liberation of Kurakhovo, a Russian military officer with the call sign Krasny told Izvestia correspondent Valentin Trushnin.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Evgeny Biyatov

In late November, Russian troops approached the center of the city occupied by the AFU with fighting, reported Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the Russian Public Chamber's commission on sovereignty issues and co-chairman of the coordination council for the integration of new regions. Since November 12, when Russian troops gained a foothold on the eastern outskirts of Kurakhovo, street battles have been taking place in the city.

Pokrovskiye Gates: Russian troops liberated Kurakhovo

The defeat of the Ukrainian garrison opens the way to an important town in southern Donbass

At the same time, the Russian security services reported that one of the AFU groups south of Kurakhovo - in the settlements of Elizavetovka and Ilyinka - had fallen into pincers and was cut off from the main forces and the possibility of receiving provisions.

The Ukrainian military tried to leave the captured territories in small groups, but all the routes leading to them were under fire control of the Russian Armed Forces, military experts emphasized.

Since late October, the Russian military liberated several settlements in the vicinity - Gornyak, Kurakhovka and Volchenka , and Voznesenka onNovember 14 . After Russian troops liberated Novoalekseevka on November 18, they were able to shell the road from the Dnieper to Kurakhovo.

Why the capture of Kurakhovo is important for the course of the SWO

Fierce fighting for Kurakhovo lasted for three months. For the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the city is an important stronghold covering the road to Krasnoarmeysk (Ukrainian name - Pokrovsk), a transportation and railway junction through which the supply of the Donbas group of the AFU passes. Inaddition, Kurakhovo is the last point from where the AFU can shell Donetsk with barrel artillery.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Press Service of the Russian Ministry of Defense

"As soon as Kurakhovo is liberated, as soon as the AFU goes further, the enemy will not have a physical opportunity to reach the city of Donetsk with artillery, in particular, the Petrovsky district, which has suffered a lot in recent months," Denis Pushilin explained.

There is only one district behind the reservoir - Novaya Ilyinka, which was connected to the city by only two bridges - a road bridge and a railroad bridge. Both of these arteries played an important role in supplying the AFU garrisons. In March 2024, Russian forces damaged the railroad bridge, and in September they struck the highway bridge.

Kurakhovo is also significant for the Russian Armed Forces, as the occupied city is the largest population center in southwestern Donbas, remaining under AFU control for the longest time since the liberation of Ugledar in October 2024. The town had an important logistical importance for supplying the Ugledar garrison.

The liberation of Kurakhovo allows Russian forces to advance to Velyka Novoselka, where a major logistics point of the AFU is located, in order to carry out its operational liquidation.

Evacuation of civilians from liberated areas of Kurakhovo settlement

Photo: RIA Novosti/Stanislav Krasilnikov

The capture of Kurakhovo also allows the creation of a bridgehead for an offensive in the eastern part of the Zaporizhzhya region along the Zaporizhzhya-Donetsk highway. Such a scenario will significantly expand the maneuvering space for Russian troops, who will be able to find the most vulnerable spots in the AFU defenses in this area. In addition, Russian troops will be able to move further north and northwest to, first, secure the flanks of the group advancing on Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk), and second, to hit the rear of the southern group of Ukrainian troops.

Where Kurakhovo is located and what is known about it

The town of Kurakhovo(emphasis on the second syllable) is located in the western part of the DNR - 46 kilometers from Donetsk and 30 kilometers south of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk). The city stands on the left bank of the Kurakhovskoye Reservoir on the Volchya River. According to statistics, in 2022, Kurakhovo had a population of about 18 thousand people.

Kurakhovo first appeared during the construction of a hydroelectric power plant on the Kurakhovskoye reservoir in 1936. It was named after the nearby village Kurahovka. Then Kurakhovo had the status of a working settlement with the industrial name Kurakhovgresstroy. The city acquired its modern name in 1956.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Lev Ustinov

In the early 1990s in Kurakhovo began a socio-economic crisis. Productions were closed, able-bodied population left to work in more promising places, such as Donetsk, Maryinka and Mariupol. Despite this, the city remained an industrial center.

Among the main enterprises of the city and the district were the Kurakhovskaya TPP, the Kurakhovskaya mine located in the town of Gornyak, and an enrichment plant located in Kurakhovka. The mining enterprises were active until 2022, after which they were almost halved, from 21,900 tons of coal to 12,600 tons, according to last year's data. The city also had fairly large machine-building, chemical and metallurgical plants, including the Elektrostal plant (rolled metal products, ferroalloys), NPO Syntop (petrochemical synthesis products) and the Svyato-Ilyinsky machine-building plant.

There were also 35 agricultural enterprises in the district, specializing mainly in the production of grain crops and animal fodder. In 2022, after the outbreak of hostilities, most of the residents were evacuated and the enterprises closed or were destroyed.