The Russian army is advancing on a front up to 65 kilometers wide and plans to encircle the Kurakhovo area – Newsweek

Russian forces advance on a 65-kilometer front, threatening to encircle Kurakhovo, Ukraine could lose the city by year-end.

This information reported according to an article published in Newsweek.

Emil Kastehelmi, an intelligence expert with Finland’s Black Bird Group, noted that Russian troops are exploiting “cracks” in Ukraine’s defenses. He identified the capture of Selidovo as Russia’s largest gain since the fall of Avdiivka. Kastehelmi suggests that Russia is positioning itself for an eventual assault on Pokrovsk.

Unlike Bakhmut, Selidovo was not destroyed in the recent assault, a detail that Vuk Vuksanovic, an analyst from the LSE IDEAS think tank at the London School of Economics, sees as indicative of Ukraine’s shortage of forces.

Kastehelmi described Russia’s rapid advance in the Donbas as a concerning development for Ukraine, as this level of speed in Russian movement is unusual. He added that seizing Kurakhovka and securing the reservoirs around Kurakhovo would offer Russia “strategic staging points for future operations.” Russia may also be aiming to encircle Kurakhovo, a heavily fortified city.

The offensive south of Kurakhovo moves across “unfortified fields,” posing a significant risk of encircling the city, which Kyiv could lose before year-end. Russian forces reportedly made additional advances in October, including near Kupiansk, where they reached the Oskil River, and to the west of Svatove.

Russian troops have also crossed the Siverskyi Donets–Donbas Canal near Chasiv Yar and “broken through Ukrainian defenses near Toretsk.” Kastehelmi highlighted that the pace of Russian advances and their aerial support pose a serious challenge for Ukraine, as moving construction equipment close to the frontlines would come with heavy troop losses.

“We will have to wait and see how effectively the Ukrainians can create and maintain new defensive positions,” he concluded.

Military analysts have reported that Russian forces have launched an offensive along a 70-kilometer front in the Donbas.