Moscow: The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday that its forces took control of four villages in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, and another village in the neighboring Donetsk region.The ministry said in its daily briefing that Russian forces took control of Chikivka, Novy Mir, Chernyshina and Drozlyubivka in the Kharkiv region, in addition to Vasilievka in the Donetsk region.Reuters was unable to verify reports about the battlefield.President Zelensky and the General Staff rejected Russian claims that Ukraine had captured Kostyantinivka, and said on Saturday that Ukraine still controlled the strategically important eastern city.The Russian military informed President Vladimir Putin on Friday that its forces had taken control of Kostyantinivka, a goal Moscow has long sought to achieve during its advance through the Donetsk region.“Of course this is not true,” Zelensky told Channel X. “It is just another Russian lie, an attempt to generate some kind of news story.” The Ukrainian president added: “If Kostyantinivka is under Russian control, perhaps (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will have no problem meeting me there to find a diplomatic way to finally end this war.”
Kostyantinivka is the southernmost of four major settlements that form a central defensive line for Ukraine’s efforts to control the heavily industrialized Donetsk region.Analysts say taking control of the city would give Russian forces a foothold to advance north along the defensive belt, the main focus of their current campaign.The Russian army announced some time ago that it had taken control of parts of Kostyantinivka, one of several heavily fortified cities that make up the so-called Ukrainian “fortress belt” in Donetsk.(This is a Reuters report)
