Zelensky rejects Russian claim of capturing Kostiantynivka

KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the country’s General Staff said on Saturday that Kostiantynivka remains under Ukrainian control, dismissing Russia’s assertion that it had taken the key eastern city.

Russia’s military had told President Vladimir Putin on Friday that its forces had seized Kostiantynivka, a city Moscow has long sought to capture as part of its push through the Donetsk region.

In a post on X, Zelensky denied the Russian claim and said, "Of course, that is not true. It ⁠is just another ⁠Russian lie, an attempt to generate some kind of a news story."

He also said, "If Kostiantynivka were under Russian control, then perhaps Putin would have no problem meeting me there to find a diplomatic way ⁠to finally end this war."

Ukraine’s General Staff also said the city was still being held by Ukrainian forces. In a statement, it said, "Military units and subunits of the 19th Army Corps of the Eastern Grouping continue to conduct defensive operations on designated lines within the town ⁠and on its approaches."

Strategic importance

Kostiantynivka is the southernmost of four important settlements that form a defensive line central to Ukraine’s effort to retain the heavily industrialised Donetsk region.

Control of Kostiantynivka would provide Russian forces with a position from which to push north along the defensive belt, which is now the main direction of their campaign.

Russia’s military has for some time said it controls parts of Kostiantynivka, one of several heavily fortified cities that make up what is described as Ukraine’s fortress belt in Donetsk.