![[FILE] Rescue and health workers together with locals load an injured person onto a van following a Russian strike on a market in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, 06 September 2023. EFE-EPA/ALEX BABENKO](https://i0.wp.com/efe.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/rss-efea8889898cd6cd198e0049fc623d771b81b0659f6w.webp?fit=1920%2C1357&ssl=1)
Moscow, Aug 23 (EFE).- Russia said Saturday its forces had captured a locality just southeast of Kostyantynivka, a vital logistics hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
The Russian defense ministry said its troops had taken control of Kleban-Byk, a village located about 10 kilometers southeast of Kostyantynivka, where fewer than 500 people lived before the war.
According to the ministry, the operation was carried out by units of the Southern Group, while troops of the Western Group seized another settlement in Donetsk, some 30 kilometers from Sloviansk, one of the main targets of the ongoing offensive.
Kostyantynivka anchors the southern gateway to the Donbas fortress belt of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, and Pokrovsk. Together, these cities form Ukraine’s eastern bastion.
On Friday, Russian forces launched a series of strikes on Kostyantynivka, using aerial bombs and attack drones.
Local authorities said the attacks, which lasted several hours, caused widespread destruction to civilian infrastructure.
Damage was reported to private homes, apartment blocks, the Ukrposhta postal office, and a gas pipeline. The Russians used first-person-view (FPV) drones and FAB-250 aerial bombs.
Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, said on Telegram that one person was injured, 21 high-rise buildings, a private house, five administrative buildings, an infrastructure facility, and three gas pipelines were damaged.
Earlier this week, Russian forces also captured Kolodezi, about 30 kilometers northeast of Sloviansk, as well as Voronoye and Novoheorhiivka in the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region. EFE
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