Russia Claims Capture of Key Eastern Ukrainian Stronghold of Kostyantynivka
The Kremlin said Russian forces have taken full control of the eastern Ukrainian city, describing it as a major strategic victory in Moscow's campaign across the Donbas.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Russia on Friday claimed it had captured the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostyantynivka, a key stronghold on the route toward the last major cities in the Donbas region that remain under Kyiv's control.
The battle for Kostyantynivka, which had a pre-war population of around 78,000, has been underway since late 2025 and has become the focal point of Russia's offensive along a front stretching more than 1,000 kilometers.
"Kostyantynivka has been completely taken. The city is now entirely under our control," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken with military commanders following the operation.
Appearing on television in military uniform alongside members of his general staff, Putin thanked Russian troops and described the capture of Kostyantynivka as being of "major strategic importance."
"The Russian armed forces continue to firmly maintain the strategic initiative" on the battlefield, Putin said.
Russian commander Anton Grunis said troops were conducting "search and elimination operations against isolated soldiers of the Ukrainian armed forces who are trying to hide in buildings, cellars and ruins."
Kostyantynivka is one of the last Ukrainian defensive positions on the road to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, cities that the Kremlin considers its ultimate military objective in the Donbas.
Peskov also said Putin had visited a Russian army command post, where he received operational briefings from the general staff and thanked soldiers involved in the campaign.
According to Peskov, Russian forces now control the entire Lugansk region, one of the two regions that make up the Donbas.
Meanwhile, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said Russian forces are now nine kilometers from the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, which had a pre-war population of more than 700,000.
Another Russian commander reported that troops are 10 kilometers from the northern regional capital of Sumy, which had around 250,000 residents before the war.