Russia Announces Capture of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Region.

The announcement was made during a meeting of senior Russian military commanders with President Vladimir Putin at an undisclosed command headquarters for Russian military operations in Ukraine. During the meeting, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said street fighting was taking place near Lyman, adding that the capture of the city was close to completion and that it had important administrative and logistical significance.

Russia’s armed forces have fully captured the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of President Vladimir Putin, announced this evening. The city had been turned into what the Kyiv regime considered an impregnable fortified area, but thanks to the heroism of our troops it has now been fully liberated, Peskov said after a meeting involving Putin and the senior military command.

In June, 29 settlements and 636 square kilometres of territory were captured, and since the start of the year Russian forces have taken control of 133 settlements and more than 3,000 square kilometres of territory, Gerasimov also claimed. According to him, Russian forces are conducting offensive operations in the Donetsk People’s Republic and have captured a number of settlements.

The Russian text states that the capture of Kostiantynivka would allow a further advance along a key defensive line in the area of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka. The battle for the city, which had a pre-war population of approximately 78,000, has been underway since the end of last year, when Russian soldiers began entering the settlement.

In another report, Sergei Medvedev, commander of the Southern Group of Forces, also briefed the president on developments in the fighting.

The report that Kostiantynivka has been captured has not been independently verified. Ukraine has not confirmed the loss of Kostiantynivka, and there has so far been no comment from the Ukrainian side.

However, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its evening update that a total of 225 clashes had taken place today. The Russian army attempted to attack most actively in the Sloviansk and Kostiantynivka directions in Donetsk region, according to the text published on Facebook. In the Kostiantynivka area specifically, Ukraine claimed that 24 Russian attacks had been repelled.