Battle of Kurakhove

Battle of Kurakhove
Part of the eastern Ukraine campaign of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Damaged apartment in Kurakhove after being shelled
Date 15 October 2024 – present Location Kurakhove and proximity, Pokrovsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine Result Ongoing
Belligerents
Russia	Ukraine
Commanders and leaders
Valery Gerasimov	Oleksandr Syrskyi
Units involved
Russian Armed Forces Russian Ground Forces	Armed Forces of Ukraine Ukrainian Ground Forces Ukrainian Air Assault Forces 46th Airmobile Brigade (Ukraine)

The battle of Kurakhove is an ongoing battle for control of the city of Kurakhove between the Russian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The battle for the city began on 15 October 2024, when Russian forces' offensive operation in the direction of Kurakhove succeeded in capturing the nearby settlement of Ostrivske and beginning the battle within the administrative limits of the city, on the eastern bank of the Kurakhove reservoir. The battle is part of the broader Russian offensive in the Donbas and Donetsk Oblast, aiming to capture the economic and defensive stronghold cities in southern Donetsk Oblast, among them Kurakhove and Pokrovsk.

Kurakhove is an important economic center in the region, being well-fortified and located next to the Kurakhove reservoir. Control of the city is considered to be economically important, as major energy infrastructure facilities, like the Kurakhove Power Station, large resource deposits like of lithium and other businesses are located in and around the city. Kurakhove also has high military significance as it is located on a bottleneck, and the eastern limits of the defensive lines of Zaporizhia Oblast. This would possibly enable the Russian forces to outflank these defensive lines by capturing the city, and allow them to press directly onto Pokrovsk from the north, an effort that was paused in an effort to capture Ukrainian cities south of it and use local rail infrastructure.

Background

Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi noted in May 2024 the disparity of forces in terms of equipment and manpower, and high pressure on Ukrainian lines in the area around Kurakhove. He described the Kurakhove and Pokrovsk areas of the frontline as the "main attack direction" of Russian forces.

In late August to September 2024, after breakthroughs towards Pokrovsk, the Russian forces regrouped north, south and east of Kurakhove, attempting to encircle the Ukrainian troops - the current main focus of Russian forces in the city's direction. The fighting shifted to the nearby cities of Ukrainsk (located about 15km north of Kurakhove), Hirnyk and Selydove. Encirclement concerns are growing, particularly further south, where roads have become impassable and businesses have closed. The logistics have been heavily affected, with supply routes slowed and evacuation of the wounded becoming more challenging due to cut roads to Pokrovsk. The city population decreased to ~5,000 in September. According to soldiers, fighting in the Kurakhove area is challenging due to the flat terrain. By 16 October, Russian forces occupied the village of Ostrivske on the eastern bank of the Kurakhove reservoir, threatening Kurakhove with encirclement.

Russian forces entered the administrative limits of Kurakhove on the east bank of the Kurakhove reservoir, near Ostrivke, on 16 October, after becoming embattled during the capture of Ostrivske. From the east, the Russian forces then became active near Kurakhove proper on 29 October.

Battle

On 15 to 16 October, to the east of the city, Russian forces seized the settlement of Ostrivske in the suburbs of the town of Kurakhove, with the administrative limits of the town of the east bank of the reservoir becoming embattled.

To the north of the city and the reservoir, Russian forces captured the cities of Hirnyk and Selydove, with Kurakhivka being assaulted, and nearly encircling the latter two. As those cities are located to the north of the Kurakhove reservoir, the capture rises encirclement concerns.

To the south of the city, Russian forces made major advances after the battle for Vuhledar concluded, advancing swiftly in the direction of Kurakhove, further amplifying encirclement concerns and worsening the supply situation.

Strategic importance

The city is noted to be of major importance for Russian resource warfare and related war goals, as it encompasses resource infrastructure and lithium worth hundreds of billions of dollars, that is stored in the Shevchenko deposit. A few weeks before the start of the Russian invasion in December 2021, the Ukrainian government granted the Australian company European Lithium the mining rights for this deposit. In the summer of 2023, the CEO of European Lithium, Tony Sage, declared that the company would no longer lay claim to the Shevchenko field - it was too close to the front line. On 10 January 2024, Russians sent "approval documents" for lithium extraction in the region to the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Russian-Israeli writer Edward Topol argues that by seizing Ukrainian lithium, Russia aims to keep Russian momentum and pressure on the European energy market with a monopoly on European lithium.

See also

• List of military engagements during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
• Battle of Avdiivka (2023–2024)
• Battle of Bakhmut