Russia claims full control of eastern Ukrainian city Kostyantynivka

Russia announced on Friday that its forces have fully captured the strategically important eastern Ukrainian city of Kostyantynivka. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated, "The city is now completely under our control." Kostyantynivka, located on the path to the last major cities in the Donbas still held by Kyiv, had been heavily contested since late 2025. The city had a pre-war population of 78,000 residents.

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The city is now completely under our control.

President Vladimir Putin, according to Peskov, visited a Russian army command post to receive a report from Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. Putin, seen on television in uniform with Gerasimov, thanked Russian soldiers and emphasized the "great strategic importance" of capturing Kostyantynivka, asserting that Russian forces "continue to firmly hold the strategic initiative on the front."

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The capture of Kostyantynivka is of great strategic importance.

This claim of capture comes amid a backdrop of intensified attacks on both sides. Russia reported at least ten people killed in a large-scale Ukrainian offensive on Friday. A drone attack on a market in Tokmak, in Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia, killed approximately five and injured 18, according to the local governor. In Belgorod, a woman died from shrapnel injuries in her car during a missile attack that also damaged civilian infrastructure and disrupted power and water supply. Additionally, a man was killed and two injured by a kamikaze drone in the Bryansk region.

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The Russian armed forces continue to firmly hold the strategic initiative on the front.

Meanwhile, repeated Ukrainian drone attacks caused widespread power outages across larger areas of the Crimean peninsula, which Russia occupies. The Moscow-installed governor, Sergei Aksyonov, cited by Tass, stated that "more than ten districts are currently without power, in whole or in part," adding that "the enemy attacks the peninsula's power grid daily with drones." The situation was described as difficult, though no figures were given for the number of people affected by the blackouts. Ukraine also claimed to have attacked two Russian air bases on the annexed peninsula.

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Currently, more than ten districts are completely or partially without power.