New Delhi, July 5 -- The clock on Ukraine's reply was already running on Saturday when Russia's Defense Ministry said it would hand over the bodies of Ukrainian servicemen killed in Konstantinovka, setting a six-hour ceasefire window for July 6 and requiring Kyiv to respond through existing channels by noon Moscow time on Saturday.

00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Moscow time on July 6. The ministry said Russian forces had established full control over the city, also known as Kostyantynivka, in Donetsk Oblast, and invited Ukraine to cease fire there to allow collection of the dead. The reply deadline Moscow set fell within hours of the statement being issued.

Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov had reported the full capture of Konstantinovk...