Ukraine war latest: Russian forces damage Kurakhove Reservoir dam in Donetsk Oblast, Kyiv says

Key developments on Nov. 11:
Russian forces damaged the dam holding the Kurakhove Reservoir in Donetsk Oblast on Nov. 11, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported.
Filashkin’s statement came after multiple reports of the dam being attacked near the village of Stari Terny, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the embattled town of Kurakhove.
The Kurakhove Reservoir is located on the Vovcha River, with its source near the village of Progress.
“This attack potentially threatens residents of settlements on the Vovcha River, both in Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts,” Filashkin said.
It’s not the first time a critical dam was hit during the full-scale war.
Russia is carrying out intense attacks in multiple sections of the eastern front, with attempts to break through Ukraine’s defenses in Donetsk Oblast toward the towns of Kurakhove and Pokrovsk.
There is a threat of Kurakhove being encircled, Nazar Voitenkov, an acting spokesperson for Ukraine’s 33rd Separate Mechanized Brigade, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on Nov. 5.
A high-rise residential building in Kryvyi Rih was hit by a Russian missile on Nov. 11, injuring at least 14 people including two children, local authorities said.
The missile hit the building between the first and fifth floor, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhiy Lysak reported, adding there may still be a woman and three children under the rubble.
A 10-year-old girl, and an 11-year-old boy are among the injured.
“Russia seeks only to continue the war, and each of its strikes refutes any statements from Russia about diplomacy,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.
“Ukraine needs weapons to defend against Russian terror and stronger support from the world to make diplomacy real and strong.”
Russian assaults in Zaporizhzhia Oblast could begin “any day,” Vladyslav Voloshyn, Ukrainian military’s Southern Command spokesperson, told Reuters on Nov. 11.
In early October, Russian troops have reportedly renewed their attack in the Zaporizhzhia sector. Kyiv warned of a potential Russian push in the southern region, just as Moscow’s troops continue advancing in Ukraine’s east.
According to Voloshyn, Russia is also deploying trained assault groups to advance in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. They are preparing to attack, he added.
“(The assaults) could begin in the near future, we’re not even talking about weeks, we’re expecting it to happen any day,” the spokesperson said.
Ukraine’s military intelligence said that Russia was planning to use armored vehicles and a significant number of drones, Voloshyn said, although it is not yet clear whether this will be a single offensive push or separate attacks.
“They are preparing both armored groups and light vehicles — buggies, motorcycles — to conduct these assault operations,” he added.
Voloshyn said in October that Russian forces were massing for a breakthrough in the direction of Orikhiv and Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The area was the main axis of Ukraine’s southern counteroffensive in 2023, which led to the liberation of the settlement of Robotyne but achieved no major results.
Russian troops have intensified attacks against Zaporizhzhia, targeting its civilian infrastructure with guided aerial bombs.
A Mi-24 type attack helicopter was set ablaze and destroyed at an airbase in Russia’s Moscow Oblast, Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) claimed on Nov. 11.
In a post on Telegram, HUR said the aircraft was attacked at a Russian airbase overnight on Nov. 9-10, and attached a video allegedly showing it on fire.
It did not say how the helicopter was set ablaze. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the video.
Russian losses in Ukraine reached a record daily high of 1,770, according to figures released by Kyiv on Nov. 11.
The total surpasses the previous record of 1,740 on May 13.
According to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Russia’s total casualties now stand at 710,660.
The figures do not specify killed or wounded, though the overall consensus is that it includes dead, wounded, missing, and captured. They are broadly in line with estimates from Western nations.
While the Kremlin does not announce the number of dead and injured, Western officials have claimed October was the heaviest month yet for Russian forces.
The number of Russian troops injured and killed last month averaged 1,500 “every single day,” U.K. Defence Staff Chief Admiral Anthony Radakin told the BBC on Nov. 10.
This is higher than the previous figure presented by the U.K. Defense Minister John Healey, who told The Telegraph on Nov. 8 that Russia suffered 41,980 killed and wounded during October- a daily average of 1,354.
According to some experts, the surge in losses in recent months may be one of the factors behind the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.
Russia is sacrificing high numbers of troops for “tiny increments of land,” Radakin told the BBC. However, he added that Russia is making “tactical, territorial gains,” and “putting pressure on Ukraine” amid a heavy offensive.
While Russian forces are suffering record losses, they’re also making increasingly swift gains in the east of Ukraine.
According to a Bloomberg analysis published on Nov. 1, Ukraine has lost 1,146 square kilometers of its own territory since the launch of the Kursk Oblast incursion in early August, with the week up until Nov. 1 reported as the worst in terms of lost territory in all of 2024.
On Nov. 2, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Ukraine was facing “one of the most powerful” Russian offensives since the start of the all out war.
Over autumn, large chunks of Ukrainian territory, sometimes including entire cities, have been lost on a near-daily basis in southern Donetsk Oblast, while Russian forces have also made operationally significant gains near Toretsk, Chasiv Yar, Kupiansk, as well as on their own soil in Kursk Oblast.