Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Russia proposed a humanitarian mission in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, to force Ukrainian troops to withdraw and allow Russian forces to occupy the city, which would then serve as a staging ground for an offensive toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. He said he had explained to US officials why the proposal was problematic: unlike Oleshky in the Kherson region, Kostiantynivka is currently the scene of heavy fighting, and Ukraine would agree to evacuate civilians as soon as an opportunity arises.
The president made the remarks while speaking to journalists, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
“The Russian story about ‘civilians’ in Kostiantynivka reflects Putin’s frustration at being unable to capture Kostiantynivka,” Zelensky said. “It’s an absolutely primitive move, because he has no other way to take the city. Putin simply wants us to leave Kostiantynivka so that Russian troops can move in and occupy the entire city. But we understand the situation in depth and are taking everything into account.”
He described the humanitarian operation in Oleshky as a major success, saying Ukraine had managed to reach people whom Russian forces had brought to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.
During negotiations with US officials, Putin falsely claimed that Russian troops controlled Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region and proposed conducting a “humanitarian mission” there, similar to the operation in Oleshky in the Kherson region. Analysts at the military monitoring project DeepState refuted the disinformation about the city’s capture and urged Ukraine not to agree to the Kremlin leader’s proposal under any circumstances, accusing him of hypocrisy. Later, Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said that Russian representatives had not mentioned Kostiantynivka at all during talks on humanitarian operations and that he had learned about the proposal from media reports.
