These excavations revealed chainmail, a dagger, a saber, a quiver of arrows, and the skeleton of a horse with its bridle, indicating the area's significance during that period.

To protect it as a transportation route, Zaporizhian Cossacks established watchposts and winter camps in the area, which eventually led to the founding of settlements.

In subsequent years, the village of Illinka (previously known as Shakhove) and the workers' settlement of Roia were incorporated into the growing town of Kurakhove.

[5] The initial project, approved by the Soviet government in 1934 and designed by the Russian Teploelektroproekt institutes [ru], proposed a power plant capacity of 400,000 kW.

To ensure a stable water supply for the power plant, two dams, Illinska and Ternivska, were built across the Vovcha River.

In May 1936, the People’s Commissariat of Heavy Industry created construction organizations such as "Donbasvazhbud", "Donbaspetsbud", and "Soyuzekskavatsiya" to carry out the necessary work.

On October 20, 1941, Nazi forces captured Kurakhove, and many local residents who could not evacuate engaged in resistance efforts against occupation, including sabotage and support for partisan groups.

Between 1945 and 1952, the town expanded significantly and rapidly, with new residential areas, schools, kindergartens, hospitals and recreational facilities being built.

New industries also emerged in Kurakhove during this period, including a boiler-mechanical plant and a factory producing concrete and construction materials.

Roia had facilities for bread product sales and a cannery that produced 25 types of canned goods across 5 workshops.

Numerous cultural and educational institutions were built, such as a 400-seat lecture hall and cinema, along with a music studio, hosting amateur arts such as drama groups, choirs, and orchestras, and a local library that held 41,000 books and organized literary events and meetings with writers.

The expansion of residential areas, cultural institutions, and public services continued throughout the 20th century, making Kurakhove a well-developed urban center.

In late August to September 2024, after breakthroughs towards Pokrovsk,[9] the Russian forces regrouped north and south of Kurakhove, attempting to encircle the Ukrainian troops.