"Do not deplete the troops completely": Butusov urged the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to withdraw forces from Kurakhove.

The situation in the Kurakhove direction requires immediate decisions from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The city of Kurakhove is essentially lost, wrote Yuri Butusov, the chief editor of the publication "Censor.NET," on Telegram.

According to him, Ukrainian troops are currently heroically defending the industrial zone on the outskirts of Kurakhove, the heat and power plant, and a narrow corridor through which all logistics for several brigades are flowing under fire from the Russians.

"Defense under these conditions is disadvantageous for us; the enemy has the tactical advantage. We are exchanging losses with an enemy that has an overall advantage in forces. All commanders on the ground say: do not wear down the troops to zero, allow them to retreat to a more favorable defensive line while they still have combat capability, set up there in advance, cover the flanks, reduce our losses, and increase those of the enemy," he points out.

According to Butusov, moving to more advantageous positions would be a completely justified decision. The Ukrainian command, as the journalist states, is currently repeating the defensive tactics used in Soledar, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Vuhledar in Kurakhove. The Russian Armed Forces have penetrated too deeply, and there are no resources left to push the occupiers back.

However, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are receiving orders to hold their positions until the last moment, despite the unfavorable ratio of losses with the enemy. If the resilient troops are "ground down" while defending disadvantageous positions, there will again be insufficient strength to protect more favorable lines.

"There will be a retreat much further than could be done now. And there will be a collapse similar to what occurred in analogous situations in Pokrovsk and Velyka Novosilka. Why repeat these mistakes?" — asks the chief editor of "Censor."

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has not confirmed the urgency of withdrawing troops from Kurakhove. In the morning report, the command states that the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 26 attacks by the Russians in the Kurakhove direction near Slovyanka, Serebryanka, Andriivka, Petropavlivka, Kurakhove, and Dachne.

It is worth noting that the Russian Ministry of Defense declared on January 6 that they had achieved complete control over the city of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region. The capture of the city is believed to enable an increase in the pace of occupation across the entire Donetsk region, according to Moscow.

Analysts from DeepState previously reported the capture of three settlements in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions. The Russian Armed Forces have occupied Lozova, Ivanivka, and Shevchenko.