Zelensky Rejects Kremlin Claim of Capturing Kostiantynivka, Challenges Putin to Meet There

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied Russian claims that Russian forces captured the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk, saying Putin chose “to lie to the world” about the front line.

“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday denied Russian claims of capturing the city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region”

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Zelensky argued that if Kostiantynivka were under Russian control, “then perhaps Putin would have no problem meeting me there to find a diplomatic way to finally end this war,” but “the fact is, he won't cross the front line-reality is very different from Putin's words.”

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The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed Russian forces took control of Kostiantynivka, describing it as the “first, but very important, stage” in capturing the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk defensive hub of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Ukraine’s General Staff spokesman Andriy Kovalev told Ukrainska Pravda that Kyiv continues defensive operations in and around the city, stressing that “the situation remains difficult but is under the control of Ukraine's defense forces.”

The Kremlin responded to Zelensky’s proposal to meet in Kostiantynivka by saying it is ready to receive the Ukrainian president in Moscow, emphasizing that “the capital of Russia is Moscow, not Kostiantynivka.”

In the same exchange, Peskov renewed Putin’s proposal to hold a meeting in Moscow, telling the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station, “He can come to Moscow as soon as he's ready to make important, responsible decisions.”

Kyiv Post

Ukraine’s denial was accompanied by a description of continued fighting, with the General Staff saying “Military units and subunits of the 19th Army Corps of the Eastern Grouping continue to conduct defensive operations on designated lines within the town and on its approaches.”

Zelensky also dismissed Moscow’s announcement as false on X, calling it “just another Russian lie, an attempt to generate some kind of a news story,” while the General Staff maintained that Kostiantynivka remained under Ukrainian control.

The dispute over Kostiantynivka is framed as part of Ukraine’s effort to hold a defensive line in Donetsk, with the city described as “the southernmost of four key settlements that form a defensive line central to Ukraine’s effort to hold the heavily industrialised Donetsk region.”

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The Express Tribune said analysts view capturing Kostiantynivka as giving Russian forces a foothold to push north along the defensive belt toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, which are described as key cities in the region.

In parallel, the Vietnam.vn account says Russian drones turned the main access route from the north-west into a “zone morte,” forcing the Ukrainian garrison to rely “almost entirely” on transport drones and ground robots for resupply.

Zelensky’s challenge to Putin to meet in Kostiantynivka, and the Kremlin’s insistence on Moscow instead, leaves both sides continuing to contest control of the city while the front line remains the focus of their competing narratives.