The Ukrainian side formed a large military grouping of up to 15,500 personnel to hold Konstantinovka and the surrounding areas. This was stated by Colonel General Sergey Rudskoy, Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff and First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, during a Russian Defense Ministry briefing for the media.

According to him, the enemy concentrated forces from seven brigades in the Konstantinovka area — a total of 45 battalions. Rudskoy noted that this grouping had been created specifically to hold the city and its outskirts.

It included nationalist formations loyal to the Kiev regime, including units of the Lyut separate assault brigade of the national police. In addition, the grouping included the most combat-capable units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, equipped with heavy hardware and Western-made weapons.