'Strategic victory': Putin claims capture of Kostyantynivka; Russian drones strike Zaporizhzhia

Russia said on Friday (July 3) its forces had captured the city of Kostiantynivka, in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk. The announcement was made at a meeting of top Russian commanders with President Vladimir Putin. The meeting was held at an unidentified command headquarters for Russia's military operations in Ukraine. Kostiantynivka is a key stronghold in Ukraine's eastern "fortress belt" long coveted by the Kremlin. Putin said last month that Russia was close to capturing Kostiantynivka, whose pre-war population of nearly 70,000 has fallen to around 2,000. Occupying Kostiantynivka would provide Russian forces a foothold from which to move north along the belt, now the central axis of their military campaign.