Russia continues to gain territory in the Ukrainian Donetsk region and announces the takeover of Kurakhov

After several months of intense fighting, the Russian Army took the Ukrainian bastion of Kurájovein the eastern region of Donetskas reported today by the Russian Ministry of Defense in a statement.

“As part of the offensive by the units of the Southern military group, the city of Kurákhov, the most densely populated urban center in the southwestern region of Donbas, was completely liberated,” the Russian command indicated on Telegram.

According to Defense, “for ten years the regime of Kyiv turned the city into a powerful defensive bastion with an extensive network of firing positions and underground tunnels.”

The city is protected to the north by the Kurájove dam, “which substantially limited the maneuvering possibilities of the Russian assault units,” said the military agency.

In order to defend the city, Ukraine sent a large number of troops, “which included nationalist units and foreign mercenariessupported by artillery and tanks,” Defense stated, according to which the Ukrainian Army concentrated 26 battalions with more than 15,000 soldiers in Kurájove.

“Thanks to the professional actions of the Russian forces, during the liberation of Kurakhov the enemy lost 80% of its manpower (more than 12,000 people), about 3,000 combat machines, including 40 tanks and other armored vehicles. During the two months of war actions in Kurákhove, the average daily casualties of the Ukrainian Army ranged between 150 and 180 military between dead and wounded,” according to the Russian report.

The taking of this city, an important logistical hub“considerably hindered the supply of the rearguard and the Ukrainian military in the Donetsk sector, with which the kyiv regime lost the possibility of bombarding the civilian population of Donetsk with its artillery,” Defense explained.

The capture of Kurakhov allows troops to enter operational space and “increase the speed of the liberation of the territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” added the Russian military command.

The pace of the Russian offensive increased in the second half of last year and, especially starting in August, territorial losses increased month by month.

In November, the Ukrainian Armed Forces they lost 610 kilometers squares of territory or 20.3 square kilometers a day in their confrontations with Russian troops.

The greatest territorial losses are recorded in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv.

It is on the territory of the Donetsk region that the Russian Army concentrated the greatest offensive potential and achieved the greatest successes.

Ukraine lost more than 3,600 square kilometers of territory in 2024 compared to the 540 square kilometers that it stopped controlling a year before and the 430 square kilometers that it managed to liberate from Russian occupation, according to data from the military analysis platform collected by the ‘Militarnyi’ portal.

After securing control of Kurákhove, Russian forces will concentrate on capturing the cities of Toretsk and Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, while advances towards Pokrovks continue.

In addition, it will advance towards the administrative border of the Dnipropetrovsk region with the prospect of starting hostilities in that region and increasing control over the territory of the Donetsk region in all directions.