Russia keeps on advancing in eastern Donetsk Oblast, taking hold of Kurakhove, which would become the first major town to fall into Russian hands in 2025.
Russian troops are continuing to push on the Lyman, Siversk, Kramatorsk, Toretsk, Pokrovsk and Kurakhove axes, Ukraine's General Staff said in its latest update. Pokrovsk and Kurakhove remain the focal points of the Russian eastern offensive, now in its fifth month.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 6 that due to Ukraine's ongoing Kursk incursion, where a potential small-scale Ukrainian offensive is taking place, Russia is unable "to direct all its strength" to other embattled areas, including Donetsk Oblast.
Yet, reports indicate that Russian troops are advancing inch by inch in an effort to capture the entire region, with little to no signs that Moscow is to slow down in the immediate future.
Emmanuelle Chaze
Battle for Kurakhove
The active phase of the battle for Kurakhove, once home to more than 18,000 people, has been ongoing since October, and the steady Russian advance in the area suggests its imminent loss.
The fall of Vuhledar on Oct. 2 and the subsequent loss of Selydove on Oct. 29 meant that Kurakhove, a town squeezed in between, would turn into Russia's next main target.
Russian troops entered the town in late November, and the Russian Defense Ministry claimed the full capture of Kurakhove on Jan. 6.
Ukraine's military did not confirm.
Speaking on national television, Victor Tregubov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces, said that as of Jan. 7, weeks-long urban fighting in Kurakhove is still ongoing.
"There is no question of full Russian control over the town," he said.
"When the town is completely destroyed, there is simply no place to hold the defense because there are actually no fortifications," the spokesperson said, adding that the situation is very difficult.
"When the town is completely destroyed, there is simply no place to hold the defense because there are actually no fortifications."
According to unconfirmed reports, Ukrainian troops still maintain a presence just outside the town, near the destroyed thermal power plant.
Ukraine rarely admits withdrawal or loss of a settlement, preferring to say that it is contested, even when it is not. There's no evidence that Ukraine has the means to retake the town in the near future.
"The town has not been strategically very important, as singular towns usually aren't. They may, however, have operational or tactical relevance, and in this case, for continuing the attack in this direction, capturing Kurakhove was necessary for Russia," Emil Kastehelmi, an analyst at the Finland-based Black Bird Group, told the Kyiv Independent.
The Kurakhove bulge has stretched Ukrainian defenses, and gradually retreating towards the village of Ulaky, 10 kilometers west of Kurakhove, would shorten the front line "significantly," according to Kastehelmi.
The highway connecting Zaporizhzhia and occupied Donetsk passes through the two settlements and serves as a major logistics chain for Ukrainian troops in and around Kurakhove.
"In this case, the Ukrainians can decide to give up some ground in exchange for a tighter defense, which could be useful in this case," he said. "Holding onto the fields around Kurakhove for the sake of holding some ground isn't always the best idea."
Kateryna Hodunova
Ongoing battles for Pokrovsk, Toretsk
Meanwhile, Russian troops continue to approach Pokrovsk further northwest, gaining ground in the neighboring settlements.
According to the DeepState crowdsourced map, Russian troops occupied Dachenske, Novyi Trud, Vovkove, Shevchenko, and Ivanivka — east, south, and southwest of Pokrovsk.
This would put Russian troops within a few kilometers of the city's outskirts from three sides. Ukraine still controls the main road leading to the city.
The Ukrainian military has not confirmed the loss of these settlements. They cannot be independently verified at this time.
According to Trehubov, Russia is trying to encircle Pokrovsk, the last major settlement in the southwestern part of Donetsk Oblast.
Ongoing Russian troop movements are also reported in Toretsk, which experienced a lull in active Russian advancement for a few months.
In late December, the Ukrainian military said that Russia started using additional military equipment near the town.
"We didn't see this before, but now the enemy has become more active," said Anastasia Bobovnikova, a spokesperson of the Operational Tactical Group Luhansk.
Moscow's troops were conducting assaults all over Toretsk as of Jan. 6, the DeepState claimed.
The fighting is ongoing inside the city.
Irynka Hromotska
