Russia claims strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, Ukraine reports over 200 battles

Russia claimed on Monday that its forces attacked Ukraine's energy facilities, while Ukraine reported on the same day its troops were engaged in over 200 battles on the frontlines over the past day.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Russian army attacked Ukraine's military airport facilities and energy facilities that provide support for Ukrainian defense enterprises over the past day.

The Russian air defense system intercepted four Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bombs, shot down 45 drones, and also intercepted eight ballistic missiles from the Ukrainian side, the ministry said.

On the same day, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a war report that 217 battles took place in the frontline areas.

The Ukrainian air force, missile forces and artillery units launched strikes on 12 Russian military concentration areas, it said.

In the Kurakhovo direction in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian army repelled 67 Russian attacks. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army continued its operations in western Russia's Kursk region that started in August.

In the past day, the Ukrainian air defense forces shot down 71 Russian drones used to attack Ukraine.

Russia's state-run broadcaster said Russian forces have broken through Ukraine's defense in the Donetsk region and entered downtown Kurakhove, a transportation and railway hub that holds strategic significance to the Ukrainian army.

Also on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the situation in the direction of Kurakhovo is the hardest right now, and that the Ukrainian army is working hard to strengthen its positions. In addition, threats have been observed in the direction of Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, and the Ukrainian army is keeping the situation under control, he said.

Russian media stated that the capture of Kurakhove will significantly expand the maneuver space of the Russian army and create conditions for it to attack the Zaporizhzhia area controlled by the Ukrainian army from the east and also advance further north and northwest to attack the Ukrainian flank forces in Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Monday Russia will take all measures to ensure its fundamental security interests. Russia's recently deployed hypersonic Oreshnik missile system, which is not subject to current arms treaties, is an example of how Moscow is strengthening its deterrence capabilities, he said.

Russia is considering the deployment of medium- and shorter-range missiles to Asia in response to similar actions by the United States, Ryabkov said.

The U.S. moves to station its missiles in Asia, as well as other regions, would force Moscow to take military-technical measures, including relocating its own weapons, Ryabkov explained.

The Oreshnik missile system was used to strike a major military-industrial site that produces missiles in the Ukrainian city of Dnepropetrovsk on Nov 21.

Hours after the strike, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a TV address, said that Russia had launched a "new conventional intermediate-range" missile with the codename Oreshnik, meaning hazel tree in Russian. It carried no nuclear warheads.

Putin said that the weapon traveled at a speed of Mach 10, or 2.5-3km per second (10 times the speed of sound), adding that "there are currently no ways of counteracting this weapon".

Russia claims strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, Ukraine reports over 200 battles

It is probably only a matter of time before the Russian troops take full control of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, said a military expert in a television interview with China Media Group (CMG) aired on Tuesday.

The 5th Brigade of the 51st of the Combined Arms of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation has entered the center of Kurakhove, said the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted on social media on the same day that the Ukrainian army was facing a difficult situation in the direction of Kurakhove.

Fierce fighting in Kurakhove has been going on for more than a month.

Kurakhove, for the Ukrainian armed forces, is an important stronghold, as well as a transport and railway hub where the Ukrainian army supplies its troops in the Donbass.

In addition, the city is the last fortified point from which Ukraine's barreled artillery can directly attack Donetsk.

For the Russian armed forces, Kurakhove is the largest city in southwestern Donbass that is still under the control of the Ukrainian army. The capture of Kurakhove would allow the Russian side to advance to Velyka Novosilka, the next important logistics hub of the Ukrainian army, while setting the stage for striking the Ukrainian-held Zaporizhzhia region from the east.

In the interview, Zhang Xuefeng, the military expert, pointed out that a Russian takeover of Kurakhove would be a further blow to the morale of the Ukrainian forces.

"There is information showing that it is probably only a matter of time before the Russian forces completely take control of Kurakhove, as they have already entered the center of Kurakhove. Once the Russian army takes full control of Kurakhove, it will once again hit the morale of the Ukrainian army and accelerate its defeat in the direction of eastern Ukraine. The ongoing ground conflicts, in the directions of both Kursk [in western Russian] and eastern Ukraine, are extremely unfavorable to Ukraine," Zhang said.

In the direction of Kursk in western Russia, about half of the area controlled by the Ukrainian forces has been recaptured by Russia, and in the direction of eastern Ukraine, the Russian army took control of an area of about 480 square kilometers in October alone, which was equivalent to the gains of the previous months. In particular, the Russian army's control of the town of Ugledar (or Vuhledar) is considered to be its biggest victory so far this year after seizing Avdiivka town near Donetsk, according to the expert.

Some even believe that it would be the end of Ukraine's defense in southern Donbass if Kurakhove is seized by Russia, according to Zhang.

Russian forces poised to capture Kurakhove in eastern Ukraine: military expert