Russia's military told President Vladimir Putin on Friday that its forces had captured Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, a city Moscow has long sought to control, as Ukraine's General Staff immediately rejected the claim as "false."
Russia's Defense Ministry posted on Telegram that its forces had "liberated" Kostiantynivka.
Ukraine's General Staff called the announcement "fake."
General Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia's General Staff, announced the city's capture while briefing Putin at a command post visit.
"The troops of the group have liberated the city of Kostiantynivka, one of the main defensive hubs of the enemy within the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk-Kostiantynivka fortified area," Gerasimov said, according to the Kremlin.
Putin described the capture as strategically significant.
"We all know that this city is a key transport and large industrial center of Donbas," Putin said.
Putin also said Russian forces had captured 133 settlements and taken control of more than 3,000 square kilometers in Donbas and Novorossiya since the start of the year, according to his remarks posted by the Kremlin.
Colonel Alexander Kartavkin, commander of Russia's sixth Motorized Rifle Division, said assault units of three regiments had broken through resistance in Kostiantynivka and were advancing west.
"The assault units of the 1442nd, 1307th and 1008th motorized rifle regiments of the division, having broken the...
Russia's military told President Vladimir Putin on Friday that its forces had captured Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, a city Moscow has long sought to control, as Ukraine's Ge...