Latest news with #Kostiantynivka
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Russian aerial bomb attack on Donetsk Oblast kills woman and damages houses, power lines and gas pipeline
A local woman has been killed in a Russian airstrike using FAB-250 bombs on residential areas in the city of Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast. Source: Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office on Facebook Quote: "On 1 June 2025, at 21:35, the Russian forces launched three airstrikes with FAB-500 aerial bombs equipped with a Unified Gliding and Correction Module (UMPK) on Kostiantynivka. Residential areas were hit." Details: A 60-year-old woman was killed in her home during the attack and four more civilians – two men aged 33 and 83 and two women aged 73 and 78 – sustained injuries. They were diagnosed with blast and traumatic brain injuries, shrapnel wounds, multiple bruises, fractures and burns. They received medical treatment, and doctors assessed the condition of three of them to be moderate. A total of 26 residential properties were damaged, along with power lines, a gas pipeline and several vehicles. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Reuters
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Russia says it captures 3 more settlements in east Ukraine
MOSCOW, May 24 (Reuters) - Russian troops advancing slowly on the eastern front of the war in Ukraine have captured two settlements in Donetsk region as well as one in Ukraine's northern region of Sumy, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday. Since their failed advance on the capital Kyiv in the first weeks of the war, Russian forces have focused on capturing the Donbas in the east, made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In recent months, Moscow has also tried to advance in Sumy region, particularly after Russia's military said it had ousted Ukrainian troops from the Russian border region of Kursk. A Russian Defence Ministry statement said its forces had captured the village of Stupochky in Donetsk region, east of Kostiantynivka, a town under recent Russian pressure. It also said it had taken control of Otradne, a village further west along the 1,000-km front and announced the capture of Loknya, a village inside the Russian border in Sumy region. The general staff of Ukraine's military acknowledged no such losses, referring to Otradne as one of several towns where Ukrainian troops had halted 18 frontline Russian attacks. It referred to Stupochky earlier this week as part of an area under Russian attack. For months, Ukraine has reported attempts by Russian forces to occupy areas of Sumy region, but has never acknowledged the capture of any of them. Reuters could not independently verify battlefield accounts from either side. Ukraine's popular DeepState military blog, which uses open source reports, said Russian forces had for the first time "been able to take up positions" along a line of border villages. Russia's Defence Ministry on Friday announced the capture of Radkivka, a village outside the northeastern city of Kupiansk, which has been under pressure for months. On Saturday, Kupiansk Mayor Andrii Besedin said the attacks were taking a toll, including two city workers killed on Friday. "We are seeing awful losses among our people, our colleagues who give their lives so the city can go on living," Besedin told national television. "Sadly, as of now, the city is 90% destroyed."
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia pushes forward in Donetsk Oblast, threatening Ukrainian pocket around Toretsk
Russian troops have upped the intensity of their Donetsk Oblast offensive in recent weeks, increasingly pressuring a relatively large Ukrainian pocket between some of the last cities in the region. An unsettling situation for Ukrainian troops is now unfolding south of the town of Kostiantynivka, which has long served as a relatively safe logistics hub for Ukrainian troops defending the areas around the now Russian-occupied Bakhmut. Russian troops have been pushing toward Kostiantynivka from two directions, slowly closing in on the Ukrainian pocket west of Toretsk. Western military experts say that Russia appears to have the resources to keep "creeping" forward, and the question is how much and for how long the Ukrainian forces deployed in the area can hold on. "The problem is this large bulge between Kostiantynivka and Pokrovsk has been growing relatively fast," Emil Kastehelmi, an analyst at the Finland-based Black Bird Group monitoring the war closely through open sources, told the Kyiv Independent. Read also: Why Washington failed to end the Russo-Ukrainian War "If it grows at this rate, the Russians will be threatening the supply routes into Kostiantynivka in a couple of months already." Concerns rise over the potential Russian encirclement of Ukrainian troops defending the Toretsk and Kostiantynivka area, according to Kastehelmi. Russia has held the initiative on the battlefield in the Donetsk Oblast since the fall of 2023, after Ukraine's failed summer counteroffensive. The recent Russian push comes as the U.S. continues to insist on peace talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the war at all costs. U.S. President Donald Trump and his team have made numerous threats that Washington could walk away from the peace process if there is no progress made in the near future, putting U.S. military support and intelligence sharing with Ukraine on the line. The experts who spoke to the Kyiv Independent said that the current Russian push in Donetsk Oblast is setting the stage for a major upcoming offensive. "I think that this is a development that will continue to be a growing issue for Ukraine during the summer because, as far as I know, the Russians should have relatively large reserves that they can commit to the battle in the coming weeks and months," Kastehelmi said. Ukraine had largely stabilized the situation on the eastern front earlier this year after Russia ramped up the offensive tempo in the summer of 2024, likely taking advantage of multiple elite Ukrainian units being deployed to Russia's Kursk Oblast for a surprise cross-border incursion. One such unit, the 80th Air Assault Brigade, had manned the defense near Klishchiivka, a village south of Chasiv Yar and north of Toretsk that Ukraine liberated in 2023. "Whilst the offensive is still underway, they're probably building momentum for higher tempo and more intense offensive operations in the coming months." Factors such as Ukraine's manpower shortage and the combat capabilities of the Ukrainian units deployed in the area would dictate how Ukrainian troops will hold onto the pocket south of Kostiantynivka, according to Kastehelmi. The lack of well-trained troops remains the army's weakest spot, with Ukraine struggling to recruit new soldiers and train them to prepare for the brutal reality of the war, experts and officers say. Ukrainian monitoring group DeepState said in April that Russian troops were preparing to advance in an area southwest of Toretsk by solidifying their presence in the village of Kalynove down south. The question hangs over the combat capabilities of the Ukrainian units deployed in the area, as reinforcing the area with units that aren't battered after fighting in hot spots of the war, such as Kursk Oblast, would be a challenge, according to Kastehelmi. "The Ukrainians need to make some difficult decisions on what directions they can prioritize and what reserves they can commit," the expert said. Retired Australian Army Major-General Mick Ryan, who has closely observed the war in Ukraine, said that even if Ukraine were to lose the pocket south of Kostiantynivka, he doesn't believe that it would bring "any significant shift in the trajectory of the war at this point." While it is still "a significant bit of territory," the more pressing concern is for Russia not to gain momentum after potentially conquering it, according to Ryan. "The last thing you want is for the Russians to become more confident and think they can generate additional momentum because they take this area," Ryan told the Kyiv Independent. The Australian expert said that Russia is adapting its tactics on the front line, for example, increasingly using fiber optic and first-person-view (FPV) drones, enabling Russian troops to achieve better results. "Whilst the offensive is still underway, they're probably building momentum for higher tempo and more intense offensive operations in the coming months," Ryan said. For now, the question is whether Ukraine would make the timely decision to withdraw from the pocket, rather than holding onto unfavorable positions at a heavy cost, according to Kastehelmi from the Black Bird Group. Ukrainian soldiers who spoke to the Kyiv Independent often criticized their command to "hold until the end," even if the positions would soon be overrun by Russian troops and the Ukrainians would be left without proper evacuation or orderly withdrawal. "This summer and the next fall will look really difficult," Kastehelmi said. Read also: 'It's okay, Mom, I'm home' —Ukraine, Russia hold largest prisoner swap of the war We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK Defence Intelligence: Russia has advanced in Donetsk Oblast but has failed to consolidate control
The UK Ministry of Defence has reported minor tactical successes by Russian forces in Donetsk Oblast over the past month, particularly near the city of Kostiantynivka. Sources: UK Defence Intelligence update dated 17 May on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda Details: UK Defence Intelligence notes that over the past month, Russian forces have made increased tactical gains in Donetsk Oblast, particularly near Kostiantynivka, which is adjacent to the large urban areas of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Quote: "Russia is carrying out attacks in three areas: Chasiv Yar (12 km to the north-east), Toretsk (15 km to the south-east) and to the east of Pokrovsk along the H-32 highway [now marked T0504 on the map – ed]." Details: The update includes a reminder that the fighting for Chasiv Yar and Toretsk has been going on for a year. Quote: "Russia occupies the majority of both but has been unable to fully consolidate control or to exploit slow advances. Most of Chasiv Yar has been destroyed due to heavy Russian aerial and artillery bombardment. Ukrainian forces remain in several fortified buildings in defence." Details: UK Defence Intelligence noted that Russian forces have expanded a salient southwest of Kostiantynivka, pushing forward by up to 5 km in some areas. Quote: "Russian forces have highly likely severed the H-32 highway which connects Kostiantynikva with Pokrovsk and will likely seek to advance further on this axis in coming weeks." Background: In an earlier update, UK intelligence analysed a large-scale explosion of ammunition at a Russian depot in Vladimir Oblast. Earlier, UK Defence Intelligence suggested that Russia could suffer record losses in the war against Ukraine in 2025. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Three civilians killed and 18 injured in Russian strikes on Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts in 24 hours
Russian attacks killed two people in Donetsk Oblast and one in Kharkiv Oblast on 16 May. Source: Donetsk Oblast Military Administration; Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration Details: Two people were killed in the town of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast. A further nine people have been injured in Donetsk Oblast over the past 24 hours: five in Pokrovsk, three in Kostiantynivka and one in Lyman. A Russian bombardment of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast killed a 55-year-old woman and injured men aged 58, 49, 40, 53, 54 and 59. In addition, men aged 39 and 59 and a 62-year-old woman were injured in the village of Kutkivka in the Dvorichna hromada. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories – ed.] Reports also indicate damage and destruction to civilian infrastructure in the region. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
