Russia Proposes Kostiantynivka Ceasefire After Disputed Capture Claims as Ukraine Insists City Remains Under Control

Russia's Defense Ministry proposed a temporary ceasefire in Kostiantynivka to allow a humanitarian handover of fallen Ukrainian soldiers' bodies, offering to suspend hostilities from noon to 6 p.m. Moscow time on July 6 and requiring Ukraine's response by noon on July 5 123. The proposal followed Russian claims that forces had fully captured the city, with Putin and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov both asserting complete control and calling it a step toward seizing the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk hub 13. Hours later Russia's Defense Ministry told TASS that fighting in the city was continuing 1. Zelensky and Ukraine's General Staff rejected the capture claims, and the 19th Army Corps released video footage from multiple districts asserting the city remains under Ukrainian control, calling the Russian statements an "information fake" 4. DeepState reported Russian forces have reached the outskirts and continue infiltration attempts 12, while the Kremlin's Dmitry Peskov said Zelensky should travel to Moscow for talks rather than meet Putin in Kostiantynivka as Zelensky had proposed 12. Russian security sources later told TASS several hundred Ukrainian soldiers' bodies remained in the city, and Russia's Defense Ministry subsequently claimed Kyiv rejected the ceasefire proposal through intelligence-service channels, a claim Ukraine's Defense Ministry and General Staff did not confirm 123.