The Russian Armed Forces are making advances towards Kostiantynivka and according to several sources this will be one of its main goals, next to Pokrovsk, of the Russian summer offensive, another attempt by the Kremlin to fully occupy the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian Armed Forces spokesperson Viktor Trehubov said that the Russian military command is focussing on advancing towards Kostyantynivka and Druzhivka. The Economist reports that Ukrainian Intelligence expects the Russian summer offensive will be aimed at Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka.
Russia has been trying to conquer Pokrovsk since the summer of 2024, but it has not succeeded yet due to the fierce fighting of the Ukrainian forces and their use of FPV (first person video) drones. [In fact, in early 2023 Putin had ordered his generals to take all of the Donetsk region before the end of March 2023. – Ed.]
The city’s population has been reduced to less than 10,000 inhabitants due to the Kremlin’s offensive campaign and many buildings in the city have been destroyed. Col. Viktor Trehubov says that the Russian forces are now “trying to create and expand a bridgehead behind the Pokrovsk-Konstyantynovka highway.”
Image retrieved from Deepstatemap Kostiantynivka, an industrial city in the Donetsk Oblast, was several months occupied by Russian separatists in 2014 and later recaptured by Ukrainian forces.
Since the start of full-scale invasion in 2022 the city has been bombarded heavily and each day several inhabitants leave the city due to the situation on the battlefield. This weekend reports came in of Russian advancements near Kostiantynivka.
The creation of a bridgehead behind the Pokrovsk-Konstyantynovka highway would make it harder for the Ukrainian Forces to defend the cities of Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka.