Pokrovskiye Gates: Russian troops liberated Kurakhovo
The Russian army has liberated the town of Kurakhovo in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry has said. The town was turned into a powerful fortification by the AFU, but it did not hold out for long - it was taken by our units with a fight. Experts note that Kurakhovo is an important transportation hub, which opens the road to Pokrovsk from the south and deprives the AFU front in the south of Donbass of stability.
The importance of Kurakhovo
In the course of active offensive operations, the units of the Southern group of troops completely liberated the town of Kurakhovo - the largest population center in the southwestern part of Donbass. This was reported in the Russian Defense Ministry.
"For ten years, the Kiev regime has turned it into a powerful fortified area with a developed network of long-term firing points and underground communications. From the north it is covered by a water reservoir, which significantly limited the maneuvering capabilities of Russian assault units," the ministry said.
It noted that for the defense of the city "the enemy has pulled together large forces, including formations of nationalists and foreign mercenaries, reinforcing them with artillery and tanks. Among them are units of the elite 79th Airborne Assault and 46th Airmobile Brigades, as well as the 5th Heavy, 33rd and 157th Mechanized Brigades. In total, the AFU command has concentrated 26 battalions totaling over 15,000 troops to hold Kurakhovo.
"As a result of professional actions of Russian troops in the liberation of Kurakhovo, the enemy lost 80% of its personnel (more than 12 thousand people), about 3 thousand units of various weapons and military equipment, including 40 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles. During two months of fighting near Kurakhovo, the daily losses of the AFU averaged from 150 to 180 servicemen killed and wounded," the ministry said.
Establishing control over this important logistical hub has significantly hampered the logistics and technical support of the AFU grouping in the Donetsk direction, and also deprived the Kiev regime of the opportunity to shell civilians in Donetsk.
After the capture of Kurakhovo, the Russian troops entered the operational space, which will allow to increase the pace of liberation of the DNR territory, the Defense Ministry emphasized.
Since 2014, Kurakhovo, where more than 18,000 people lived before the start of the special military operation, has been an important transport and logistics center for the southern grouping of Ukrainian troops, military expert Alexei Leonkov told Izvestia.
The Donetsk-Zaporozhye highway passes through the city , as well as a railroad line leading to Pokrovsk and further to Dnipropetrovsk region. It was quite a large industrial center - the Kurakhov Pipe Plant was located here, as well as the powerful Kurakhov Thermal Power Plant - it was on the list of the most important energy facilities in Ukraine.
- Ukrainian artillery, which also operated on Donetsk, received supplies through this city," the expert recalled. - The troops on the first line, including those in the Volnovakha and Ugledar areas, were supplied from here . For the AFU it was an important settlement, on which significant parts of the front rested. The enemy believed that the fighting would not come here, that they would hold our troops in the area of Ugledar - on the main line of defense. But this city fell. The AFU began to sharply increase their efforts to strengthen their defenses near Kurakhovo.
Russian troops were advancing to the city quite rapidly, Lieutenant Colonel Roman Shkurlatov, chairman of the board of the all-Russian organization Officers of Russia, told Izvestia.
- The AFU did not expect such a turn of events," he said. - All defensive lines were built with the expectation that our units would approach from the east. We, as expected, made our way to the city from this direction, but our units also advanced well from the north and south, taking the city in a pincer. These units were able to get close to the only good highway that connected the city with the rear areas. This maneuver made it possible to strike tightly at the artery of ammunition and reinforcements.
Units advancing from the north were able to conduct a small landing operation, crossing into the city across the Kurakhov reservoir by boat, the expert added.
- The fighting after that broke out in the very center of the city," he noted. - Blowing up the dam of the Kurakhovskoye reservoir did not help the AFU. On the contrary, it made life more difficult for the enemy.
Liberation of the DNR
The Russian army is liberating the DNR step by step - this is the most important thing for us now, military expert Viktor Litovkin said.
- "We are continuing to move forward, holding the initiative - this is a very good trend for us," he told Izvestia. - From the military point of view, Kurakhovo is an important fortified point. The city has been prepared for a long time for defense, as many roads that lead deep into Ukraine converge there.
Kurakhovo is home to facilities important for the region's economy, the expert said.
- We are gradually depriving the enemy of its industrial base," he added. - In addition, we are advancing to the border of Dnipropetrovsk region, and this worries the enemy very much.
After the liberation of Kurakhovo, the Russian army is moving out of the Donetsk agglomeration to the flat steppe terrain, where there are no large cities and urban-type settlements, Alexei Leonkov noted.
- Movement to the west and north-west in this direction will allow to launch an operation to take the enemy grouping in the area of Pokrovsk, Chasov Yar and Toretsk in a ring,- the expert noted. - It is difficult to storm these cities head-on - the same Chasov Yar can serve as an example, it has been turned into a fortress. Fierce fighting is going on there now.
After the liberation of Pokrovsk, according to the expert, our troops will move towards the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, bypassing it from the west. Thus, we will begin to cut off local garrisons from communications, through which they are supplied.
- It should be easier to advance across the steppe. Also, we should not forget that the enemy was preparing to meet us from the east, building fortifications there," said Alexei Leonkov.
The expert drew attention to the fact that to the north of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration Russian troops have also started moving towards these cities.
- In the area of Kupyansk our troops have already overcome Severskyi Donets and made a bridgehead on the western bank of the river, - he noted. - In the future, they will try to cut the supply routes of the Kupyansk garrison, forcing it to leave the city. The liberation of Kupyansk will open the way to Slavyansk from the north.
Such flank maneuvers contribute to the creation of half-boileries, where enemy garrisons have big problems with the rotation of troops and supply of everything necessary, the expert said.
- It is not excluded that events in a similar scenario will develop along the entire large arc from Kupyansk to Kurakhovo," he said. - We will drive the AFU into half-boilers, forcing the enemy to leave their positions in a hurry and with heavy losses - this tactic is now working in Southern Donbass. There are preconditions that in the future such pressure will increase and the enemy will be destroyed even more intensively.
The expert also noted that after the liberation of Kurakhovo, the southern part of the front, which runs through the Zaporizhzhya region to the Dnieper, may be sprinkled.
Artillerymen in the battles for Kurakhovo
Earlier, Izvestia wrote how theactions of the assault squads advancing towards Kurakhovo were supported by powerful strikes by artillery. Msta-B long-range guns not only helped the infantry move by destroying fire points, but also fought the AFU artillery. They engaged in duels with Crab, Caesar and M-777 artillery systems, which they confidently defeated. As a result, the activity of the enemy artillery fell.
In addition, the Defense Ministry noted that "the servicemen of the 5th and 110th Motorized Rifle Brigades especially distinguished themselves, showing courage and heroism, during the liberation of the city."
The Russian artillerymen were seriously protected from enemy UAV strikes. They are armed with portable REB systems and shotguns. Some of them are trophy weapons.
