Russia claims capture of Kostiantynivka; Ukraine denies the city has fallen

Russian forces claimed to have captured Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region after roughly nine months of fighting. Ukrainian officials rejected the assertion, saying the city had not fallen.

Kostiantynivka sits within what Ukraine calls its “fortress belt,” a network of fortified cities forming the main defensive line across the Donbas. A confirmed loss would open a path toward the remaining strongholds behind it, which is why control of the city is contested in the reporting as much as on the ground — Moscow’s claim runs ahead of independent verification. The competing accounts could not be reconciled from open sources.

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