Russia Announces Full Control of Konstantinovka, Expands Operations Toward Slavyansk

Dragon Media News Desk

The Russian Defence Ministry has announced that Russian forces have established full control over the strategically important city of Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

According to the ministry, troops from Russia’s Southern Group of Forces captured the city after breaking through a multilayered Ukrainian defensive system that had been developed since 2014 and significantly strengthened following the fall of Artyomovsk.

The Russian Defence Ministry described Konstantinovka as one of the most heavily fortified and deeply layered defensive areas held by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The ministry said the defensive system in and around the city consisted of two main lines containing more than 150 kilometres of trenches, ditches, military routes and fortified structures.

The first defensive line reportedly extended for more than 30 kilometres and formed a continuous network of explosive barriers. The second line stretched for up to 35 kilometres and was constructed around a cascade of reservoirs, according to the Russian account.

Ukrainian forces had established more than 80 barrier zones and 50 fortified defensive centres inside the city, the ministry claimed. It added that some of these positions had been built around civilian infrastructure, including kindergartens.

According to the Russian Defence Ministry, Ukraine deployed 45 battalions from seven brigades to hold Konstantinovka. The grouping was estimated to include up to 15,500 personnel.

The ministry said formations associated with Ukraine’s Liut Brigade, along with some of the most combat-capable units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, had participated in the defence of the city.

Russia’s Southern Group of Forces reportedly conducted flanking operations around Konstantinovka and brought the main Ukrainian supply and movement routes under fire control. Russian assault units then entered and captured different parts of the city in stages, the ministry said.

According to the Russian account, the densely built-up Yuzhny and Vtoroy districts were taken during the second half of May. Administrative buildings in the Tsentralny district and the Krasny Gorodok area reportedly came under Russian control at the end of May.

The industrial zone surrounding the Megatex metallurgical complex was captured in early June, while the so-called Ukrainsky Khutor area in the southwest of the city was taken in mid-June, the ministry stated.

Russian troops are now present across the entire city, from its southern to northern outskirts, according to the Defence Ministry. It added that some commanders and military units previously mentioned in operational reports had since been relocated for security reasons.

The ministry said the capture of Konstantinovka brought more than 66 square kilometres of territory under Russian control.

Russia also claimed that Ukrainian forces lost approximately 13,500 personnel during the battle for the city. The figure is based on a Russian battlefield assessment and has not been independently verified.

The Russian Defence Ministry accused the Ukrainian command of continuing to order its forces to hold Konstantinovka until the final stages in an attempt to persuade Western partners that the situation remained under control.

It claimed that Ukrainian forces suffered substantial losses because military commanders sought to demonstrate what Moscow described as an inaccurate picture of success instead of acknowledging the actual battlefield situation.

Ukrainian units have been pushed several kilometres away from Konstantinovka, while Russian assault groups are now fighting on the outskirts of Alexeyevo-Druzhkovka, according to the ministry.

Units from Russia’s Southern and Western groups of forces are also advancing on the right flank of the Slavyansk direction toward the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk urban agglomeration, the Russian side said.

The ministry reported that formations of the Southern Group’s Third Army were fighting in Nikolayevka and had reached positions approximately eight kilometres from the eastern outskirts of Slavyansk.

Meanwhile, Russia announced that troops from its Central Group of Forces had broken through a powerful defensive line built by Ukraine since 2014 and previously regarded as extremely difficult to penetrate.

The Central Group is continuing its advance northward, with forward units reportedly reaching the areas of Dobropolye and Annovka, according to the Russian Defence Ministry.

Control of Konstantinovka could provide Russian forces with additional operational opportunities to advance toward Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. The two cities are considered among Ukraine’s principal remaining military, logistical and administrative centres in Donbas.

At the time of publication, the Ukrainian military leadership had not issued a detailed response to Russia’s claim of full control over Konstantinovka. The Ukrainian General Staff had continued to report Russian attacks and ongoing clashes in the Konstantinovka direction.

Because of intense fighting, disrupted communications and conflicting military accounts issued by the two sides, claims concerning territorial control and battlefield losses remain difficult to verify independently.