Moscow accuses Kyiv of blocking Kostiantynivka body handover truce
Russia says Ukraine refused a proposed six-hour pause near Kostiantynivka, where both sides dispute who controls the Donetsk city.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Russia’s Defence Ministry accused Ukraine of refusing a short ceasefire around Kostiantynivka that Moscow said was needed to return the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. The claim adds to a dispute over control of the eastern Ukrainian city, which Russia says it has captured and Kyiv says remains under Ukrainian control.
The ministry said on Sunday that it had offered a six-hour halt to fighting in and around Kostiantynivka on Monday. According to the ministry, Kyiv had been given until 0900 GMT on Sunday to respond to the proposal.
Ukraine did not accept that account in the material reported by Al Jazeera and Reuters. The dispute comes two days after Russia said its troops had taken Kostiantynivka, a city in the Donetsk region that Moscow has pursued during its campaign in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials rejected Russia’s claim of control. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that the assertion was false and described it as “another Russian lie” intended to create a news event.
Zelenskyy also challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet him in Kostiantynivka if Moscow believed the city was under Russian control. “If Kostiantynivka were under Russian control, then perhaps Putin would have no problem meeting me there to find a diplomatic way to finally end this war,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded on Russian radio by dismissing Zelenskyy’s proposal. Peskov said Kostiantynivka was already part of Russia and repeated the Kremlin’s position that Zelenskyy could meet Putin in Moscow.
Zelenskyy wrote to Putin last month seeking direct talks as part of an effort toward peace, according to Al Jazeera. Zelenskyy has long ruled out holding such a meeting in the Russian capital.
Crimea attack and diplomatic calls
Russian officials also reported casualties in Russian-occupied Crimea early Sunday. Sergei Aksyonov, the Kremlin-installed regional governor, wrote on Telegram that one person had been killed and two others injured in a Ukrainian attack, including one person in serious condition. He did not provide further details.
The latest reported attacks followed separate calls involving Zelenskyy, Putin and US President Donald Trump about ending the war, now in its fifth year. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Trump offered during a nearly 90-minute call with Putin on Saturday to help seek a way to end the conflict before a NATO summit in Ankara.
Zelenskyy also said he spoke with Trump on Saturday. In a Telegram post, he said the two discussed the war’s 1,200km, or 745-mile, front line and agreed to continue discussions at the NATO summit this week.
“There is a real prospect to end this war and American resolve will have a crucial meaning,” Zelenskyy wrote.
A senior US official confirmed that Trump planned to meet Zelenskyy on Wednesday to discuss “how we can end the war.” The official said the battlefield had been largely static in recent months and that Trump felt urgency about stopping the fighting.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.