Russia declares capture of Kostyantynivka, a fortified city blocking route to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk

The claim

On Friday, July 3, 2026, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told journalists that Kostyantynivka had been fully taken by Russian troops. He added that President Vladimir Putin had been briefed by the military leadership on the development. The city had a pre-war population of about 78,000 and sits on the main axis towards Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the two largest urban centres in Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk.

Kostyantynivka has been fully taken. The city is now entirely under our control.

A long battle

Russian forces began infiltrating Kostyantynivka in late 2025, marking the start of a protracted fight that stretched over months. The battle became the main Russian effort on a front spanning more than 1,000 kilometres. By Friday, the Kremlin said the operation had concluded with the complete capture of the city.

Strategic significance

Kostyantynivka was one of the last fortified locks on the road to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, whose capture is the Kremlin’s stated objective in the Donbas. The city’s fall would allow Russian forces to shorten their supply lines and bring the remaining Ukrainian-controlled cities under direct threat. In the same briefing, Peskov claimed that Russian forces now control the entirety of the Luhansk region, one of the two oblasts that form the Donbas.

Unconfirmed and unchallenged

Ukraine has not corroborated the claim. Independent verification of the situation on the ground is absent, and Kyiv has yet to issue a statement. Previous Russian battlefield declarations have sometimes been premature, and the status of Kostyantynivka remains uncertain until Ukrainian or third-party sources confirm.