The war in Ukraine, the Russian invasion of that country, continues. With a slow and occasional continuity, but it has already been more than 4 years of war. Donald Trump, who has been in the White House for almost a year and a half, has not ended the conflict as he promised and the fighting between Russians and Ukrainians continues. According to a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the number of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers killed, wounded and missing reached two million this spring.
The capture of the entire Ukrainian region of Donetsk has been the Kremlin's military priority in 2026. The Russians have been concentrating forces around several key cities in eastern Ukraine. One of the most active fronts is in Kostiantynivka.
This Ukrainian city is currently in Vladimir Putin's sights; it has become a priority target of the Russian offensive, a strategic node that the Ukrainians continue to defend as best they can. Capturing Kostiantynivka could allow Moscow to threaten the rest of Donbas.
Donetsk, the obstacle to peace talks
- The issue of control over the Donetsk region remains one of the main obstacles in the US-backed peace talks. Moscow demands total control over the region, while Kyiv refuses to withdraw from territories that Russian troops have failed to capture. The truth is that peace negotiations have stalled.
The slow Russian advance towards a city in ruins
Kostiantynivka lies in the kill zone, a 32 km wide strip of the front line dominated by drones. After the Russian capture of Toretsk in August 2025, their troops continued pushing northwest towards this city. It is now in ruins. Ukrainian troops maintain control, but the Russians are advancing slowly.
In February, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that Ukrainian forces no longer held positions below Berestok (a city south of Kostiantynivka). That meant the Russians, for example, had control of the Kleban-Byk reservoir. Putin's forces attacked the dam, causing flooding in the area. This made the road connecting Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka impassable, further complicating Ukrainian logistics towards the city.
"People live in basements, burn wood, and scavenge in garbage, like in the Middle Ages"
Evgeny Tkachev, a worker at Proliska, a humanitarian organization supported by the United Nations, said that driving towards Kostiantynivka "is like playing Russian roulette," reports The New York Times. Debris blocks the streets, which are riddled with craters. Much of the city center is unrecognizable, devastated by incessant shelling.
Intermingled Russian and Ukrainian positions
The city had about 67,000 inhabitants before the war, but as of last April, it is estimated that only about 2,500 remained. Last fall, as Russian forces advanced towards Kostiantynivka, a police team known as the White Angels and civilian groups evacuated as many residents as they could. As the city became increasingly dangerous, aid groups have also been leaving supplies for civilians who refuse to flee.
But there is less and less to distribute. "People live in basements, burn wood, and scavenge in garbage, like in the Middle Ages," said Captain Yevhen Alkhimov, spokesman for the 28th Mechanized Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian army.
"Drone operators can see everything while flying and know exactly what they are attacking [civilians]"
The ISW says that determining the exact front line now is difficult. Ukrainian forces successfully repelled Russian assaults on the city throughout March 2026. But geolocation of video footage shows that Russian and Ukrainian positions within Kostiantynivka are intermingled, as if the city belonged to both and to neither.
Does Ukraine have chances on the battlefield?
- Russian forces seem increasingly exhausted, while Ukraine's own manpower problems have not yet reached a breaking point. This is what John Helin, an analyst at Finland-based Black Bird Group, points out. "It seems that, four or five months into this year, it is much more likely that the Russians will run out of steam before Ukraine's problems reach a breaking point," says Helin, as reported by the Kyiv Post. Last Monday, the ISW commented that Ukrainian forces are now "actively challenging the positional nature of the war" and could soon conduct limited mechanized assaults.
The nightmare of drones in Kostiantynivka
Coils of barbed wire and dragon's tooth anti-tank obstacles protrude from the rubble. And drones constantly fly over Kostiantynivka. They are a nightmare. Drones "relentlessly pursue the population," says Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk regional administration in Ukraine.
"I see destroyed houses, shattered lives, dead people... Who are they trying to negotiate with?"
On the front, Ukrainians say the increasing number of drone attacks on the civilian population is premeditated. "Today, drone operators can see everything while flying and know exactly what they are attacking," said Oleg Tkachenko, founder of Breath of Hope, a group that collaborates with Proliska.
With or without drones, Russian infiltrations into Kostiantynivka continue. Russian units managed to reach a zinc plant and this Thursday, May 28, a Russian source claimed that two other infiltrations had succeeded in the city center, according to the ISW.
Pain, death, hunger, and a muted desperation. That is what the NYT journalists Tyler Hicks and Gaëlle Girbes have seen on the streets of Kostiantynivka. "I see destroyed houses, shattered lives, dead people. I see the pain of those who have lost everything... Who are they trying to negotiate with?" Tkachenko told them.
