Zelenskiy denies Russian capture of key eastern city Kostiantynivka

Russian military commanders reported to President Vladimir Putin on Friday that Moscow's forces had taken control of Kostiantynivka, a target that Moscow has long sought in its advance through the Donetsk region. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the nation’s General Staff have explicitly rejected these assertions.

Kostiantynivka is the southernmost of four key settlements that form a defensive line central to Ukraine's effort to hold the heavily industrialised Donetsk region. Analysts say capturing the city would give Russian forces a foothold from which to push north along the defensive belt, now the main axis of their campaign.

Media additions

President Zelenskiy characterized the Russian claims as a fabrication in a post on X.

"Of course, that is not true. It is just another Russian lie, an attempt to generate some kind of a news story."

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, President of Ukraine, via X

Zelenskiy further challenged the credibility of the announcement by suggesting that if the city were truly under Kremlin control, he would be willing to meet the Russian leader there to negotiate a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, speaking on Russian radio, mocked Zelenskiy's suggested meeting, saying Kostiantynivka was already a part of Russia and the Kremlin's invitation for Zelenskiy to meet Putin in Moscow still stood.

The Ukrainian General Staff maintained that defensive operations in the sector remain active. In an official statement, the command noted:

"Military units and subunits of the 19th Army Corps of the Eastern Grouping continue to conduct defensive operations on designated lines within the town and on its approaches."

General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, via official statement

In contrast, Russian state news agency TASS quoted a commander in the town, identified by call sign Agalu, as saying that clearing operations in the town were "coming to an end" and Russian troops were already setting up battle positions.

The Russian Defence Ministry accompanied its claims regarding the city with an offer to facilitate a six-hour ceasefire on Monday around the town to permit an exchange of the remains of deceased servicemen. The statement on Telegram said Moscow was proposing a six-hour ceasefire on Monday and gave Ukraine until noon (0900 GMT) on Sunday to reply.

On 4 July 2026, Ukrainian forces conducted a large-scale drone strike targeting oil and port infrastructure in the St Petersburg and Leningrad regions. The St Petersburg governor, Alexander Beglov, said the city had been subjected to a “large-scale” drone attack that had hit its oil terminal. Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the surrounding Leningrad region, said a drone had struck the area of Vysotsk port, about 170km northwest of St Petersburg on the Baltic Sea. Russian president Vladimir Putin dismissed the strikes on energy facilities as “not critical”.

On 4 July 2026, US President Donald Trump and President Putin held a 90-minute phone call. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov described the discussion as "business-like and quite constructive," noting that the US President offered to assist in brokering a solution to the conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had also spoken to Trump. Zelenskiy indicated that he and Trump agreed to continue discussions at the NATO meeting.

The Russian Defence Ministry also said its forces had taken five villages in eastern Ukraine: Shyikivka, Novyi Myr, Cherneshchyna and Druzhelyubivka in Kharkiv region, and Vasylivka in Donetsk region. Aside from Kostiantynivka, Russia's Defence Ministry quoted another commander as saying heavy fighting was continuing around Lyman, a town further northeast.