Russian troops are approaching the town of Kostiantinivka in the eastern Donetsk region, trying to create a foothold near this heavily fortified area, Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Sîrski said on Saturday, quoted by Reuters.
Kostiantinivka is part of the so-called “fortified belt” in eastern Ukraine, along with other towns heavily fortified by the Ukrainian military to resist Russian offensives.
“We repel persistent attempts by the Russian occupiers to gain a foothold on the outskirts of Kostiantinivka using infiltration tactics. Countersabotage measures are underway in the city,” said Oleksandr Sîrski, commander of the Ukrainian army, in a message published on the Telegram application.
According to the Ukrainian frontline mapping project DeepState, Russian troops control an area about one kilometer from the southern outskirts of the city. Also, small portions of Kostiantinivka are marked as a “grey area”, indicating that neither Ukraine nor Russia have full control over them.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that its forces had taken control of the town of Novodmîtrivka, located north of Kostiantinivka. In April, the head of the Russian General Staff, Valeri Gherasimov, claimed that Moscow's troops were advancing on the city from both the north and the south.
Sîrski pointed out that the intensity of Russian attacks increased significantly in April. Since Monday, Russian troops have launched 83 assaults in this sector, using small groups of infantry, he said.
Moscow is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, territories that Russia has failed to fully capture in four years of full-scale war. Peace talks brokered by the United States have stalled at this point, with Ukrainian officials insisting that Kiev will not cede territories still under its control.
In recent years, the Russian army has failed to capture large cities in Ukraine, advancing slowly and mainly announcing the occupation of small towns. The most important gain in the last year was the city of Pokrovsk, where most of the population of more than 60,000 inhabitants managed to leave. Even there, however, Kiev claims it still holds some positions.
On another front, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday it had captured the village of Miropillia in the northern Sumy region, where Moscow plans to create a “buffer zone”. The Ukrainian army, however, rejected these claims. The Ukrainian military group “Kursk” wrote on Facebook that the Russian report is “a pure lie” and that its units still control the area.
In the same Sumî region, the local governor announced that a Russian airstrike near the town of Krovelet injured six people, two of whom are in serious condition.
