Putin's Kostiantynivka aid plan seen as cover for Russian troop rotation, Ukraine says

Ukraine's presidential communications advisor Dmytro Lytvyn said on Thursday, November 12, that Russia may use a proposed humanitarian operation in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, to rotate its troops and bring in military equipment. Lytvyn claimed Russia previously employed similar tactics during a humanitarian operation in Oleshky. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin proposed the Kostiantynivka mission to US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow, citing alleged Russian control of the city, though Ukraine's General Staff spokesperson Andriy Kovalev denied such claims on October 17, stating fighting continues there. Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow after talks in Abu Dhabi that secured a large prisoner exchange deal, and plan to meet President Zelenskyy in Dublin afterward. The Oleshky operation's ceasefire lasted from October 27 to November 1, evacuating nearly 800 people.