Russia’s Defence Ministry said Friday its forces had seized the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, a strategically important place in the Donetsk region. Ukraine officials had not commented on the claim or publicly confirmed it at the time of publication.
The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the issue at a meeting with senior military commanders. State television footage showed Putin at a military command post, where he called the reported capture an important strategic victory.
Russia’s Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said troops from the country’s southern military grouping had captured Kostiantynivka and were continuing offensive operations to seize the rest of the Donetsk region, part of the wider Donbas region.
In his report to Putin, Gerasimov said, "The troops of the group have liberated the city of Kostiantynivka, one of the main defensive hubs of the enemy.
Russia has in the past claimed to have taken parts of the city, which has long been considered one of Ukraine’s main defensive positions in eastern Donetsk. There was no immediate independent verification of Russia's latest claim.
Kostiantynivka is a major transportation and industrial centre in the Donbas and is “of strategic importance for Russia’s military campaign," Putin said.
The Russian Defence Ministry also published images on Telegram that it said showed Russian soldiers raising national flags in damaged parts of the city.
Russian forces were advancing toward the town of Lyman, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of Kostiantynivka, which he called strategically important for future operations, Gerasimov also said.
In the meeting, Russia’s northern military grouping commander Yevgeny Nikiforov admitted Russian forces hadn’t fully stopped Ukrainian drone strikes on oil infrastructure inside Russia. He said operations were continuing in the Kharkiv and Sumy border regions, where Moscow has called for expanded buffer zones.
Putin said continued Ukrainian attacks on civilian infrastructure would prompt Russia to expand what he called security zones along the border.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have said Russia's advances in eastern Ukraine have slowed since the beginning of the year, with Kyiv's forces reclaiming some territory recently.
Putin dismissed those assessments as part of an information campaign. The Kremlin also said Putin had declined a recent offer by Zelenskyy for a direct meeting.
Both Russia and Ukraine claim battlefield gains, but independent sources have not confirmed them.
