BATTLE FOR KURAKHOVO: Ukrainians Withdraw From Center and Flee ‘Boiler’ South of the City, as Russian Troops Make a Play for This Railway Hub With Kiev’s Last Coking Coal Plant

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By now we have learned how the Russian ‘boa constrictor’ strategy plays out in the Donbas.

Time and again Russian Federation forces, in their territorial expansion, face bastion cities with heavy fortifications, armed to the teeth.

Instead of banging head on, the Red Army encircles, chase the territory of the supply routes, putting defenders in successive ‘boilers’ where they face attacks from multiple directions.

By using this modus operandi, Russians are now advancing at the fastest rate they have since the early days of the war.

Russia broke weekly and monthly records, having captured almost 91 square miles in Ukraine over the past week, and 232 square miles in November.

At this point Moscow controls almost 20% of Ukraine with over 80% of Donbas, more than 70% of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south.

Reuters reported:

“The thrust of the advance has been in Donetsk region, with Russian forces pushing towards the town of Pokrovsk and into the town of Kurakhovo. Russia has increasingly encircled territory and then pummeled Ukrainian forces with artillery and glide bombs, according to Russian analysts.”

The initiative on the battlefield is all Russia’s.

“The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said in its Monday update that 45 battles of varying intensity were raging along the Kurakhovo part of the front line that evening.

Russian war bloggers say that if Russia can pierce the Ukrainian defences around Kurakhovo, they will be able to push westwards towards the city of Zaporizhzhia while securing their rear to allow a swing towards Pokrovsk.”

Kurakhovo has become the worst sector of the front for Kiev’s forces, and even top General Syrsky fears Russians may deal a crushing blow to Ukrainian forces there.

Ukrainian defenders try to flee the ‘boiler’ in the south of the city.

“A contingent of Ukrainian troops ended up being trapped in a kill zone to the south of Kurakhovo and is currently being obliterated by Russian forces, the head of the Russian Civic Chamber’s commission on sovereignty Vladimir Rogov told media.”

The city has significant strategic and economic importance to Kiev.

Sputnik reported:

“Kurakhovo is as the lynchpin of Ukrainian defenses in the region, with its fall opening the way for the Russian troops to Pokrovsk, a key logistical hub for Kiev.

[…] Kurakhovo is important for Kiev from the economic standpoint as well, since the local coal mining area is currently the only place under Ukrainian control where coking coal is produced.”

Losing the coal plant may kneecap Ukraine’s steel production, and therefore its military industries.

Read more:

WW3 WATCH: Ukraine Fires US-Made ATACMS Missiles With Cluster Munitions Against Khalino Airfield in Russia’s Kursk Region (SHOCK VIDEOS)

The post BATTLE FOR KURAKHOVO: Ukrainians Withdraw From Center and Flee ‘Boiler’ South of the City, as Russian Troops Make a Play for This Railway Hub With Kiev’s Last Coking Coal Plant appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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