KYIV — Ukraine said on Saturday its forces had regained control of the strategically important eastern city of Kostiantynivka, rejecting Russia's claim that it had captured the Donetsk stronghold and describing Moscow's announcement as false amid what Kyiv says is a slowing Russian offensive.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia's assertion that it had seized the city was "another Russian lie" intended to create a propaganda victory, insisting Ukrainian troops continued to hold defensive positions. Ukraine's General Staff said units of the 19th Army Corps were conducting defensive operations in and around the city and remained in control of designated positions.
Russia's Defence Ministry told President Vladimir Putin on Friday that Russian forces had taken Kostiantynivka, a major transportation hub that Moscow has long sought to capture as part of its campaign to secure the entire Donetsk region. Kremlin officials said the city's capture would provide a springboard for further advances toward the remaining Ukrainian-held urban centers of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Reuters could not independently verify battlefield claims made by either side.
Kostiantynivka is the southernmost city in Ukraine's fortified defensive belt in Donetsk, and military analysts have said its control is critical to the defence of the industrial region. The city has been under sustained Russian assault for months as Moscow sought to break through one of Ukraine's strongest defensive lines.
Zelenskiy dismissed the Russian announcement in a post on X, saying that if the city had truly fallen, Putin "would have no problem meeting me there to find a diplomatic way to finally end this war." The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly challenged the Kremlin's battlefield claims while calling for renewed diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
Russian officials, meanwhile, maintained that their forces had secured the city following months of fighting and said offensive operations would continue deeper into the Donetsk region. Moscow also reported additional gains elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, although those claims likewise could not be independently confirmed.
The dispute over Kostiantynivka comes as both sides report heavy fighting along several sectors of the more than 1,000-kilometre front line. While Russia has continued offensive operations in eastern Ukraine, analysts have said the pace of its advances has slowed in recent months despite sustained pressure on Ukrainian positions.
As of Saturday, Ukrainian authorities said defensive operations in and around Kostiantynivka were continuing, while Russia maintained that the city was under its control. Neither side's account had been independently verified.
