In Ukraine’s Donetsk region, approaches to Kostiantynivka were flooded after a strike on a dam near the village of Osykove. According to the Ukrainian analytical project DeepState, Russian forces first destroyed a bridge on the city’s northwestern outskirts and then used a three-ton guided aerial bomb against the hydraulic structure to worsen Ukrainian military logistics.
The analysts say the water reached the Druzhkivka–Kostiantynivka road, turning that stretch into impassable mud. DeepState believes Russian troops are also probing defenses around the perimeter and searching for weak points, especially in the southwestern sector near Illinivka and Berestok.
Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military and political observer with the Information Resistance group, told Novaya Gazeta Europe that supply traffic along the H-20 highway linking Kostiantynivka and Druzhkivka has indeed been disrupted, but the city has not been fully cut off.
“There are other roads leading to the settlement, including Route 523 along the Kryvyi Torets River and several lateral routes controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces. Logistics there are less convenient, but still possible,” he said.
In Kovalenko’s assessment, the effects of the strike will not last long: unless a large-scale assault follows, the road could become usable again in about a week. Retired Ukrainian colonel Roman Svitan offered a similar estimate, saying the water should recede within ten days at most and that the Ukrainian garrison likely has stocks of ammunition, equipment, and food.
Svitan added that Russian units continue attacking Kostiantynivka with small assault groups of two to four troops, trying to infiltrate the defense line and entrench themselves in the rear. He said street fighting is underway in the city, but there is currently no immediate threat of it being lost by the Ukrainian side.
Kovalenko says Russian forces are mainly attacking from the southeast, moving along tree lines, ravines, and bodies of water toward Mahistralna Street, while also trying to press from the southwest through Yablunivka, Oleksandro-Kalynove, Illinivka, and Berestok. In his view, Russian troops still do not control any significant part of the city, and their advance is being checked by artillery, FPV drones, and Ukrainian clearance units. Svitan said the most severe consequences of the dam strike may fall on the several thousand civilians still in Kostiantynivka, especially elderly residents, people with disabilities, and bedridden patients whose access to food and medicine has become more difficult.