Russia announces control over Kostiantynivka city in eastern Ukraine
The Kremlin announced on Friday that the Russian army had taken control of Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine, a city that serves as a fortified stronghold for Ukrainian forces and is located at a junction leading to the
Translated by Qiyas from الجريدة — Original source
The Kremlin announced on Friday that the Russian army had taken control of Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine, a city that serves as a fortified stronghold for Ukrainian forces and is located at a junction leading to the last major cities still under Kyiv’s control in the Donbas region.
Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists, including reporters from Agence France-Presse, “Full control has been established over Kostiantynivka. The entire city is now under our control.”
Television footage showed President Vladimir Putin in military uniform with his general staff, thanking Russian soldiers and emphasizing that the capture of Kostiantynivka holds “major strategic importance.”
For his part, Russian military commander Anton Gromov stated that Russian forces were currently conducting “search and clearance operations against isolated Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers who are attempting to hide in buildings, basements, and rubble” in Kostiantynivka.
The battle for control of the city, which had a population of approximately 78,000 before the war, began in late 2025 with Russian infiltration operations.
Peskov said that Putin visited a Russian army command center, where he listened to a report from the general staff and thanked the Russian soldiers.
Peskov noted that Russian forces now also control the entirety of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, one of the two regions of the Donbas area that Russia seeks to fully control.
Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov explained that Russian forces are now just 9 kilometers from Zaporizhzhia, a major city in southern Ukraine that had a population of more than 700,000 before the war.
Another military commander indicated that his forces are now 10 kilometers from Sumy, the largest city in the Sumy region in northern Ukraine, which had a pre-war population of approximately 250,000.
Putin stressed that “the Russian Armed Forces continue to firmly hold the strategic initiative along the entire front line.”
