Russia Claimed It Had Captured Kostyantynivka, but Ukraine Denied It

The situation around Kostyantynivka remains disputed after a statement by Russia’s military command that it had captured the city.

The day before, Russian military officials reported to Vladimir Putin that the Russian army had taken Kostyantynivka—an important industrial and transport hub in the Donetsk region. They also claimed that Russian units had begun fighting on the southeastern outskirts of neighboring Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka, on the approaches to Druzhkivka.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine denied those claims. Andrii Kovalev, a spokesperson for the agency, told the media that the situation remained difficult, but that Kostyantynivka was “under the control of Ukrainian forces.” According to him, this is confirmed by electronic troop-control systems.

Ukrainian sources also do not record the loss of Kostyantynivka on their maps.

According to the military public channel Deep State, there are almost no areas of stable Russian control in the city, except for a small section on the southern outskirts. The southern part of Kostyantynivka is marked on the DS map as a “gray zone,” while the rest of the territory is shown as under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, this “gray zone” effectively forms a “pocket” around areas of Ukrainian presence, with a narrow exit corridor to the north.

At the same time, a Ukrainian soldier with the call sign “Muchnoi” had earlier reported that Russian assault groups had begun “checking the tree line” near Osykove. That settlement is located north of Kostyantynivka, on the approaches to Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka—that is, in the rear of the Ukrainian grouping defending the city. Deep State maps do not mark a Russian presence in that area.

Russian military public channels have written in recent days that Russian troops are “taking the last blocks” of Kostyantynivka.

On the evening of the previous day, Russia’s Defense Ministry published a video showing Russian soldiers and Russian flags in what it said were different parts of the city.

However, it is not yet clear whether the footage confirms stable Russian army control over all of Kostyantynivka.