The primary objective of the Russian forces now is to push Ukrainian troops out of Kurakhove before winter arrives.
According to retired Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and military expert Roman Svitan, there is still a chance to hold the city, but action must be taken swiftly—otherwise, Kurakhove may be lost.
The colonel noted that to stabilize the situation in the Kurakhove sector, it is necessary to deploy at least two fully equipped brigades.
This will help prevent Russian forces from reaching the strategic route connecting Zaporizhia and Donetsk, which links Konstantinopol and Kurakhove.
"If the Russians reach Razliv and Konstantinopol from the south and cut off this route, our forces will have to leave Kurakhove," Svitan explained. If the route is blocked, supplying the garrisons will become impossible, regardless of their numbers.
Svitan emphasized that there are about two weeks left to make the necessary decisions—after that, it will be too difficult to change the course of events.
"It won’t matter how many garrisons we have there. We simply won’t be able to supply them. We have a maximum of two weeks to change the situation to our advantage in this direction; after that, it will be too late," the expert stated.
He noted that currently, the retreat of Ukrainian units is between one to three kilometers, but there is no breakthrough of the front line, which would signify a catastrophic collapse of the defense line, at this time.
However, the expert warns of the danger of a possible encirclement of the Kurakhove group of Ukrainian forces if Russian troops manage to cut off the main supply lines from Zaporizhia.