Ukraine rejects Russian claim of capture of Kostiantynivka

The US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) stated that there was no evidence of the Russian advances. The Russian forces present in the city reportedly consist mainly of small assault groups operating between Ukrainian positions. A situation report stated that Putin may have staged the announcement in order to once again tout successes. Observers see this as mounting pressure on the country's leadership.

Kostiantynivka is an industrial city in the Donbas where several important highways converge. Before the war, around 70,000 people lived there, with some estimates putting the population at up to 78,000. The population has since shrunk to roughly 2,000 people, according to Ukrainian figures. The city is considered one of four "fortress cities" in the Donbas and forms a central defensive sector of the Ukrainian armed forces in the heavily industrialized Donetsk region.

Strategic significance of the city

Should the city fall, only the larger cities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka would remain under Ukrainian control in Donetsk Oblast. Analysts also see the capture of Kostiantynivka as a bridgehead for further Russian advances toward the north. Fighting in the city continues, according to the Ukrainian army, as army spokesman Andriy Kovalyov emphasized: „Die Lage ist schwierig, aber sie ist unter der Kontrolle der ukrainischen Verteidigungstruppen."

The Ukrainian military blog DeepState, considered a reliable source on front-line developments, likewise records only parts of the city as Russian-occupied. Russian military bloggers have likewise not yet claimed the entire city for their own army. A spokesman for the Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday: „Die Stadt befinde sich weiter unter ukrainischer Kontrolle."

Putin in uniform before the military leadership

On the previous evening, Putin stated during a visit to a command post that the Russian army had brought Kostiantynivka fully under its control. He spoke of an expansion of so-called security zones and said that the city is "ein wichtiges Verkehrszentrum und ein großes Industriezentrum des Donbass." For the occasion, Putin appeared once again in uniform before the military leadership after a lengthy interval.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to the Russian conquest announcement with a pointed invitation to Putin: he wrote on Telegram that if Kostiantynivka were indeed under Russian control, Putin would presumably have no problem meeting him there and finding diplomatic solutions to finally end the war. The verbatim quote is: „Wenn Kostjantyniwka derzeit unter russischer Kontrolle stünde, hätte Putin wohl kein Problem damit, sich dort mit mir zu treffen und diplomatische Lösungen zu finden, um den Krieg endlich zu beenden." Zelensky, verbatim, continued: „Dennoch werde Putin die Front nicht überschreiten."

Diplomatic tug-of-war over a meeting

The Kremlin promptly rejected the meeting offer. Kremlin spokesman Peskov said that Moscow is the capital of the Russian Federation and not Kostiantynivka, and recalled that Putin had declared his readiness to receive Zelensky in Moscow. Zelensky, for his part, categorically rejected a visit to Moscow. In effect, both sides – democratic Ukraine and authoritarian-led Russia – have an interest in influencing US President Donald Trump through reports of success and drawing him to their side in the war begun by Moscow.

Zelensky also spoke of the "x-th Russian lie" in a telephone call with Chancellor Friedrich Merz. He accused Putin of a deliberately timed falsehood also aimed at Trump. The idea was to convince Trump of the inevitability of a Russian victory through the supposed conquest. Zelensky went on to say: „Die Wahrheit unterscheidet sich sehr von Putins Worten."

Internal Russian pressure and Ukrainian drone strikes

The announcement also came shortly before the celebrations marking American independence, with which 250 years of US independence are being commemorated. The ISW assessed the timing as an attempt to generate media attention. Observers see in the Russian approach an attempt to cover up the growing stagnation at the front: the Russian military is currently making little progress along the front line.

According to the ISW, the background is also a fuel crisis in Russia triggered by Ukrainian drone strikes, which has led to considerable discontent among the Russian population. Commander Yevgeny Nikiforov said that so far it had not been possible to fully stop the Ukrainian drone strikes on the Russian oil industry. Putin announced that the Russian armed forces would have to respond to the intensifying Ukrainian long-range attacks, which have been directed primarily against the Russian oil industry.

Support for the Ukrainian view also came from Austria. Colonel Matthias Wasinger of the Austrian Armed Forces confirmed to the ORF broadcaster Ö1 that Ukraine continues to hold positions in Kostiantynivka. Wasinger thereby underscored Kyiv's account.

Parallel to the Kupiansk episode

As early as December 2025, Russia had announced the capture of the city of Kupiansk; Zelensky had then driven to the edge of the city and released a video of what appeared to be his undisturbed visit. The full capture had likewise proven untenable then – a pattern that could now repeat itself with Kostiantynivka. One background factor in the conflict: if Kostiantynivka were to fall, it would significantly ease the Russian advance in the Donbas basin. Analysts expect further Russian offensives, which are however likely to be protracted and costly – comparable to the sieges of other eastern Ukrainian cities such as Pokrovsk and Avdiivka. The information in this article is, according to its own account, currently not independently verifiable.