Russian Media: Russian Army Skillfully Captures Ukraine's "Strongest Fortification Area"

Reference News Network reported on July 8 According to the website of the Russian newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" on July 6, the liberation of the city of Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People's Republic was the result of careful planning. In this operation, military force was no match for strategy and insight into the enemy's intentions. General Rudskoy, head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, introduced the details of this operation.

To hold Konstantinovka, Zelensky and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Zaluzhny,投入了大量预备队。作为大型工业中心和物流枢纽，这座城市是通往乌克兰政府在顿巴斯地区的最后堡垒，也就是克拉马托尔斯克-斯拉维扬斯克城市群的关键。

Konstantinovka is the seventh largest administrative center in the Donbas region by area and population. As of early 2022, there were over 78,000 residents in the area. The city was regarded as the capital of the glass industry during the Soviet era and is one of the largest centers for ferrous and non-ferrous metal smelting in eastern Ukraine, as well as an important railway transit hub.

Since 2014, the Ukrainian military has been transforming this city into a fortified area. After all, losing it would mean opening the gateway to Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, so Kyiv has invested significant funds and human resources into its defense.

Over the past decade, an extremely complex system of engineering structures has been built locally: two defensive lines, dozens of kilometers of trenches and anti-tank ditches, and hundreds of reinforced concrete firing points. The defensive works rely on industrial areas, railways, embankments, and even a communication network of over 30 kilometers underground. Every block, every school, or kindergarten has been transformed into a stronghold. There are more than 50 defensive nodes in the city, and minefields and obstacles are laid along the main routes leading to the city. The Ukrainian military has gathered seven brigades, totaling more than 15,000 soldiers, including elite units. They are equipped with Western weapons and are believed to withstand any assault.

The Russian military did not launch a direct assault, which would have resulted in heavy losses, but instead employed flanking maneuver tactics. While tying down enemy forces in the eastern and southeastern suburbs, the Russian military surrounded Konstantinovka from the flanks, controlling all reinforcement and ammunition transport routes, isolating the defending troops.

After the Ukrainian supply and rotation were interrupted, the Russian military began systematically "squeezing" the enemy out of the city blocks. The operation was carried out in phases, clearing areas one by one. By the end of April, the glass factory and zinc mining area, which housed enemy command points and drone takeoff and landing sites, were captured first. Subsequently, two residential complexes and the old town center with its intricate underground maze were taken, where enemy machine gunners had previously hidden.

It is worth mentioning the successful operation to control two local industrial giants, namely the metallurgical plant and the automotive glass factory, which were almost taken over without damage, highlighting the high precision of the operation.

The toughest challenge was the old town, densely populated with low-rise buildings—where the enemy had turned every basement into a shelter. Russian assault groups operated in small mobile units, clearing streets district by district. By mid-June, even the most remote suburbs were under Russian control.

Six months ago, Zelensky was advised to withdraw troops from the Donbas region to avoid unnecessary losses. He refused. Now, Konstantinovka has been completely captured by the Russian military, which continues to advance towards Druzhkovka and Slovyansk.

The success of this operation is attributed to meticulous planning, patience, and the courage of the officers and soldiers in storming the defensive works. The command chose not to expend equipment and personnel in a frontal assault but opted for a mature tactic: cutting off communication lines, severing the enemy's contact with the outside world, and then driving them out of every basement.

The Ukrainian military has lost more than 13,000 soldiers and hundreds of pieces of equipment in this war. Kyiv had tried to hold this city at all costs, but the price became unbearable. The liberation of Konstantinovka has opened the way to the last stronghold of the enemy in the Donbas. (Translated by Tong Shiqun)