Up to 145 Russian troops remain in Kostiantynivka as Ukrainian forces hold defense, military says

Russian forces have concentrated up to 145 troops in Kostiantynivka, where Ukrainian units continue defending the city and conducting counter-sabotage operations, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on July 20.

The Kostiantynivka sector remains one of the most intense areas of the front, with Russian forces launching up to 20 attacks a day and continuing attempts to infiltrate deeper into the city, according to Syrskyi.

Ukrainian troops are conducting search-and-strike operations and extensively using first-person-view (FPV) drones and bomber drones to detect and attack Russian infantry and firing positions, the statement read.

"Our defense remains active. Drones always go first, both to detect the enemy and to strike it," Syrskyi said.

According to the commander, Ukrainian forces killed 21 Russian soldiers, wounded six others, and struck six Russian shelters in Kostiantynivka on July 18.

Syrskyi made the remarks following a visit to the Kostiantynivka sector, where he received reports from the leadership of Ukraine's 19th Army Corps and commanders of brigades and other units operating in the area.

Syrskyi said the main priority was expanding the use of all types of unmanned systems to increase pressure on Russian forces while reducing risks to Ukrainian personnel.

Vladyslav Urubkov, head of the military department at the Ukrainian foundation Come Back Alive, told the Kyiv Independent that despite the volatile situation and the presence of Russian troops in Kostiantynivka, it would be inaccurate to say that Russian forces control the entire city, despite repeated Russian media claims to the contrary.

"For at least a month now, maybe even longer, the situation in the city has been as follows: the Russians move in, build up their forces, and we try to drive them out. Our presence there remains," Urubkov said.

"This applies to any urban combat — there is no front line as such; even a larger Russian presence in a particular neighborhood does not indicate their complete control over that neighborhood, since there may also be Ukrainian positions there."

Urubkov said Ukrainian units are now reaching their positions in the area primarily on foot, as even ground robotic systems face difficulty entering the them because the two access roads are under heavy Russian fire control.

Urubkov said Russian troops are positioned at varying depths on both flanks of Kostiantynivka but that there is no indication the city is at risk of semi-encirclement. He added that Russian forces continue to maintain constant pressure, affecting the defense of the neighboring town of Chasiv Yar, where heavy fighting has continued for more than two years.

"It's very difficult right now to say how long the defense of Kostiantynivka can hold out."

"For now, fortunately, the city is holding out and Ukrainian troops remain there. The main thing is to avoid a full-scale encirclement, where people would be unable to leave the city — that is something that must definitely be avoided."

Once home to more than 100,000 people, Kostiantynivka is the southernmost city in Ukraine's so-called Donbas "fortress belt," which also includes Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk. The group of cities remains the main barrier to Moscow's objective of occupying the entirety of Donetsk Oblast.

Russian infiltration groups began entering residential neighborhoods on the city's outskirts over the winter, exploiting gaps between overstretched Ukrainian positions and increasingly difficult front-line logistics. By early June, Ukrainian commanders acknowledged that more than 100 Russian soldiers were operating within the urban area.

Russian authorities have repeatedly claimed control over Kostiantynivka, while Ukraine's General Staff has denied those assertions and said Ukrainian forces continue operating against infiltrating Russian infantry groups.