“This is just the umpteenth Russian lie to at least get some news out there,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.Image: keystone
Jul 5, 2026, 12:33 amJul 5, 2026, 12:33 am
The Ukrainian military has contradicted Moscow’s claim that it captured the town of Kostiantynivka in the Donbass industrial region. The General Staff’s morning report said that there were still fighting in the small town, which previously had 67,000 inhabitants. Fighting is also still going on in villages even closer to Russian positions, such as Ivanopyllja.
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin said during a visit to a command center the evening before that the Russian army had brought Kostiantynivka completely under control. Ukrainian military blogs like DeepState continue to list only parts of the city as Russian-occupied. Russian military bloggers have not yet claimed the entire city for their army.
Zelenskyj: The umpteenth Russian lie
“This is just the umpteenth Russian lie to get at least some message into circulation,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj during a telephone call with Chancellor Friedrich Merz. He called on Putin to meet with him in Kostiantynivka. “If Kostiantynivka were currently under Russian control, Putin would probably have no problem meeting with me there and finding diplomatic solutions to finally end the war.” Nevertheless, Putin will not cross the front. “The truth is very different from Putin’s words,” said Zelensky.
Institute: Putin needs positive news
The US Institute for War Studies (ISW) wrote that Moscow forces had gained ground in Kostiantynivka in recent weeks. But above all, the Russian presence in the city consists of small shock troops between Ukrainian positions. The ISW viewed Putin’s victory announcement as an attempt to gain media attention before the weekend celebrations of 250 years of US independence.
The Russian head of state appeared in uniform with the military for the first time in a long time. Announcing the army’s successes is important for Putin. The fuel crisis in Russia, caused by Ukrainian counterattacks with drones, has caused great discontent among the population.
One of Putin’s war goals is to bring Donbass completely under Russian rule. After the fall of Kostiantynivka, of the larger cities in the Donetsk region, only Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka would remain under Ukrainian control. (sda/dpa)