Vladimir Putin held a meeting with the Russian military at one of the command centers of the Joint Group of Russian Forces. The Kremlin announced the visit. Federal channels and state news agencies broadcast the meeting.
During the meeting, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov informed Putin about the situation on the front. Among other things, it was reported that Russian forces had completely captured the city of Konstantinovka in the Donetsk region of Ukraine (or, as Russian authorities believe, in the self-proclaimed Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Putin announced the complete seizure of the territory of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic and a significant advance into the territory of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. He noted that the capture of Konstantinovka is the first but important stage in the capture of the Slavic-Kramatorsk Defense Center of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The battles for control of Konstantinovka have been continuing since October 2025. In recent weeks, Russian attack aircraft have been spotted in all areas of the city, but the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces also remain within its borders. In the Lugansk region, Ukrainian armed forces will likely continue to control the village of Grekova. Evidence of the capture of this village by Russian armed forces has not yet been published.
In addition, during the meeting, Putin threatened Ukraine with “expanding the security zone” in the border areas. The Russian President said: “The more strikes the enemy tries to direct against civilian targets in Russia, the more it will be necessary to create a larger security zone in neighboring territories.”
He also called on the military to continue carrying out large-scale strikes on Ukraine and ordered an analysis of Western countries that “incite continued hostilities.” “We need this analysis to make possible decisions in the future,” the president added.
Ukraine did not comment on the statements of Putin and the Russian army, nor did it report the surrender of Konstantinovka.
The Russian authorities and the army have repeatedly announced the seizure of some settlements in Ukraine, but these statements are not always confirmed by objective data. For example, the Russian army has already done this Announce On the completion of the “liberation” of the Lugansk region in April 2026.