Moscow, July 4 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday (local time) described the military capture of Konstantinovka city as a "key" that opens a direct path to the rest of the Donetsk region after the nation's forces claimed successful capture of the heavily fortified Ukrainian stronghold in the Donbas region.

According to reports from Russia Today, the city, which served as a crucial pillar of the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk-Konstantinovka defensive agglomeration, had been transformed into a "fortress" over the decade following the 2014 Maidan events.

Following the city's fall, President Putin visited an auxiliary command post on Friday to receive a tactical briefing from Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and senior commander...