In Kurakhovo, Donetsk region, only 300 people remain as the city is nearly entirely occupied.

This was discussed during a telethon by the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Vadim Filashkin.

According to him, currently, leaving Kurakhovo is only possible through filtration routes.

“What will happen to these people next — we do not understand. We continue to appeal to the residents of those localities close to the front line — it is very dangerous,” Filashkin stated.

He also mentioned that about 300 people remain in Myrnohrad, 126 in Toretsk, and 7,200 in Pokrovsk. Filashkin noted that Russian forces are exerting pressure on Ukrainian positions to advance beyond Kurakhovo, but the Defense Forces are trying to hold back the occupiers.

Situation in Kurakhovo

On January 6, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the complete capture of Kurakhovo. At the same time, Ukrainian defenders reported ongoing Russian assaults in the urban area.

As early as late December, Russia claimed that all urban development in Kurakhovo had come under the control of the occupiers. At that time, an analyst from the German publication Bild stated that the Defense Forces had already exited the city. However, the 46th Separate Air Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that heavy fighting was still ongoing — in the vicinity of Kurakhovo and within the urban area.

The head of the communications department of the 46th Brigade, Alexander Nevidomy, shared that the occupiers are storming the urban area in small infantry groups of 2 to 5 people. They are utilizing strike drones and UAVs for drops, FPV with fiber optics, and are moving using motorcycles and cars.

“They crawl like ants. They hide in crevices like cockroaches. They take cover in buildings like rats. And it is the paratroopers of the 46th Air Assault Brigade who have to flush them out from everywhere. Drone operators work without rest, and engineers barely manage to equip new and new devices for takeoff and clearing the area of swarms of Russian intruders,” the military recounted.