Military correspondent Alexander Kots described in a KP.RU column how Russian troops liberated Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

The complete liberation of the city was reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting at one of the auxiliary command posts of the Joint Group of Forces.

According to Kots, the first assault units of the Southern group of forces entered Konstantinovka from the southeastern direction in mid-October of last year. At that stage, it was reconnaissance by fire: Russian servicemen secured positions near the first houses in the Santurinovka microdistrict and gradually built up their presence.

The military correspondent noted that the Ukrainian army had seriously prepared the city for defense. The industrial zone had been turned into an underground fortress, while the metallurgical plant had become a powerful stronghold with communication passages between workshops. In Kots’s assessment, whoever controlled the plant could keep half of the city under fire control.

Russian forces took this into account and did not launch a frontal assault. Instead, reconnaissance activities were carried out, while UAV operators cleared the sky of Ukrainian drones.

One of the important stages of the operation was the liberation of the railway station in January. By March, urban fighting was already taking place in three parts of the city at once: the southern, southwestern and eastern sectors. By that time, more than 60 percent of Konstantinovka had come under Russian control.

Then, as Kots noted, there was a pause that lasted several months. He linked it to the nature of fighting in urban areas, where advances are made gradually, through every house, basement and section of street.

In June, the situation changed sharply. On June 11, Russian troops fully controlled the eastern part of the city, while assault units closed the inner ring around the Ukrainian garrison. On June 22, the southern part of Konstantinovka came under the control of the Russian Armed Forces, after which Ukrainian logistics in the city were completely destroyed.

At the final stage, Russian troops cleared buildings and eliminated the remaining enemy forces. On July 2, it became known that assault units were completing the clearing of the city of scattered Ukrainian formations. According to Kots, the final point in the operation was put on July 3.