Russian forces have conducted repeated infiltration attempts and drone strikes toward Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka northwest of Kostyantynivka in Donetsk Oblast but lack confirmed entries or consolidated control of the settlement as of mid-September 2026, according to independent assessments. Russian milbloggers and official claims of advances or presence inside the town remain unverified or contradicted by geolocated evidence, while Ukrainian forces have disrupted logistics, captured infiltrators, and maintained defensive positions in the broader Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area. Ukrainian counteroffensive operations, including efforts clearing Russian salients north of Lyman, have further constrained Russian sequencing toward the Fortress Belt towns of Druzhkivka and Kostyantynivka. Ongoing glide bomb and FPV drone activity targets Ukrainian supply routes, yet the absence of confirmed Russian territorial gains in this sector amid heavier fighting elsewhere on the front line shapes trader assessments of near-term capture prospects.