Ukraine denies claim that Russian forces captured Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine

Russia’s military said on Friday that its forces had taken control of Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine, a key locality whose capture Moscow has long sought in its advance through the Donetsk region.

The announcement was made by General Valery Gerasimov, head of Russia’s General Chief of Staff, as President Vladimir Putin visited a command point overseeing the actions of Russian forces in Ukraine.

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However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the General Staff said that Ukraine still controls the strategically important eastern city of Kostiantynivka, rejecting the Russian claims.

“Of course, that is not true. It is just another Russian lie, an attempt to generate some kind of a news story,” Zelenskyy said on X.

“If Kostiantynivka were under Russian control, then perhaps (Russian President Vladimir) Putin would have no problem meeting me there to find a diplomatic way to finally end this war,” he added.

The General Staff also said Kostiantynivka remained under the control of Ukrainian forces.

“Military units and subunits of the 19th Army Corps of the Eastern Grouping continue to conduct defensive operations on designated lines within the town and on its approaches,” it said in a statement.

Kostiantynivka is the southernmost of four key settlements that form a defensive line central to Ukraine’s effort to hold the heavily industrialized Donetsk region.

For his part, Gerasimov, in a report to Putin on the conduct of the war, now in its fifth year, said the southern group of Russia’s forces was “carrying out offensive operations to liberate” all of Donetsk Region.

“The troops of the group have liberated the city of Kostiantynivka, one of the main defensive hubs of the enemy within the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk-Kostiantnynivka fortified area,” Gerasimov said.

The Defense Ministry’s post on the Telegram messaging app showed what it said were scenes from the captured town, including pictures of Russian servicemen holding up national flags around shattered buildings.

Analysts say capturing the city would give Russian forces a foothold from which to push north along the defensive belt, now the main axis of their campaign.

Russia’s military has for some time reported controlling parts of Kostiantynivka, one of several heavily fortified cities that make up Ukraine’s so-called “fortress belt” in Donetsk.

Aside from Kostiantynivka, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday it had taken five villages in eastern Ukraine: Shyikivka, Novyi Myr, Cherneshchyna and Druzhelyubivka in Kharkiv region, and Vasylivka in Donetsk region.

With Reuters

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