Russia claims that its forces have successfully captured Kostyantynivka, a strategically important city located in eastern Ukraine that forms the southern end of Ukraine’s defensive line in the Donetsk region.
It’s a claim Russia has been making for weeks, but Ukraine denies it, saying the announcement is entirely false.
Putin Sitting in the Kremlin Russian Federation Photo
Independent battlefield analyses have supported Ukraine’s claims, with several reports noting that Russian troops have entered and occupied some parts of the city but have not established full control.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made the claim on Friday, July 3, following a televised meeting with the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, and other senior commanders.
The Russian Ministry of Defense subsequently released images and videos showing soldiers displaying Russian flags at several locations throughout the city.
But the photos only prove that Russian soldiers are in the city – not that Russian forces have taken full control.
Today, there is no evidence that Moscow has fully occupied the city, with Ukrainian soldiers still operating there. But why is Russia being so loose with the truth if it doesn’t change the reality on the ground?
What Russia Claims
During the July 3 meeting, Gerasimov reported to Putin that Russia’s Southern Grouping of Forces had captured Kostyantynivka and was continuing its offensive to take the remainder of Donetsk. Russia illegally annexed the entire region in 2022 but still does not control all of it.
Putin has described the city as an important industrial and transportation center, which indeed it is, and presented its alleged occupation as a major step toward breaking Ukraine’s defenses in the Donbas.
Putin at ASEAN Meeting June 2026 Russian Federation Handout Photo
During a visit to a command post on the front line earlier this month, the Russian president and Gerasimov offered an assessment of the war so far, with Gerasimov claiming that a southern group of forces was now working to “liberate” the entire Donetsk.
He then went on to explicitly claim that those forces had successfully occupied Kostyantynivka.
“The troops of the group have liberated the city of Kostyantynivka, one of the main defensive hubs of the enemy within the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk-Kostyantynivka fortified area,” Gerasimov said.
How Ukraine Responded
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy quickly rejected the claims, mocking the Russian president and daring him to meet him in the city if he believes his forces have full control.
“Of course, that is not true,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “It is just another Russian lie, an attempt to generate some kind of a news story.”
“If Konstiantynivka were under Russian control, then perhaps Putin would have no problem meeting me there to find a diplomatic way to finally end this war,” he added.
Ukraine’s 19th Army Corps also stated that its units were still present in the city and were attacking Russian groups attempting to infiltrate even deeper into the urban areas of the city, even as Putin claimed they had taken full control.
Ukrainian video footage shared online showed drones targeting Russian soldiers, surrounded by damaged buildings, even after Moscow said fighting there had ended.
The Ukrainian account doesn’t prove that Russian forces have made no progress, but it does suggest the city wasn’t captured – and there’s plenty of other evidence to back it up, too.
What We Know
According to a report from the Institute for the Study of War published on July 3, Putin’s declaration contradicted “all available evidence” concerning Russian advances. Its assessment determined that the bulk of Russia’s presence there consisted of small groups interspersed among Ukrainian positions.
DeepState, an independent Ukrainian battlefield-mapping project that uses geolocated imagery and frontline reports, also showed that large parts of Kostyantynivka were under Ukrainian or contested control even after Moscow’s announcement.
So, Why Lie?
It’s hard to say exactly why the Kremlin ran with this story rather than simply admitting the reality – which itself could have been positioned as something of a victory.
The Institute for the Study of War speculated that the meeting with Gerasimov was likely staged “at least in part to influence Western media coverage of the war into the weekend, particularly the July 4 holiday in the United States.”
It could, then, be that Moscow is deliberately portraying its forces as victorious in anticipation of a new round of peace talks facilitated by Washington – and if the American people see the reports, that matters as well.
Public opinion matters to U.S. President Donald Trump, and any influence the Kremlin may have over him helps.
But the reality is this: the Kremlin does not have full control of this city, and with every day that passes, the country loses critical oil and energy infrastructure to Ukrainian strikes.
It’s only a matter of time before Moscow is forced to face the reality that its economy cannot survive sustained Ukrainian strikes, and stories about taking control of Ukrainian cities won’t change that.
About the Author: Jack Buckby
Jack Buckby is a British researcher and analyst specializing in defense and national security, based in New York. His work focuses on military capability, procurement, and strategic competition, producing and editing analysis for policy and defense audiences. He brings extensive editorial experience, with a career output spanning over 1,000 articles at 19FortyFive and National Security Journal, and has previously authored books and papers on extremism and deradicalization.
